More punchbag

Managed to get up to 15 of my intended 30 x 45 second punchbag sets today since starting on Monday... almost there!

It's really really tough. I definitely advise getting yourself a punchbag at home. It's good for stress and a cardio workout.

If you're like me and don't have space to hang one, get yourself a free standing one.

Portion Sizes

One thing I've always had a problem with is overeating and portion sizes. Even now I still have issues, especially when it comes to my junk food days.

A good rule of thumb is to fill your plate using your fist as a measurement. Ideally, your meal should be a fist sized portion of carbs (wholemeal of course), protein and vegetables. That should be enough to fill you up. If you want to go a step further, use a smaller plate. Even though you'll have three fist sized portions of food on there, in your head you'll think it's more because the plate is smaller.

Punchbag Work

Normally I would use my punchbag for warming up before my weights session, but from this morning I'm turning into a form of cardio straight after the session.

To get in the sort of time I would when running, I'm trying out 30 x 45 seconds on the punchbag with 15 seconds rest in between each set.

Needless to say, I didn't manage to get through the 30 sets today, but hopefully it'll be a different story by the end of the week.

Either was still totally shattered after, so should be on the right track.

December Blues

Just spent the last three days binging hard!!! Need to snap out of it.

I've had a good, clean egg and sausage breakfast with some green tea, so hopefully back on track. The real test will come later... off to the cinema to watch Break Ke Baad starring Imran Khan and Deepika Padukone.

Wish me luck!!!

Using the cold to your advantage

Anybody else annoyed with the weather? I sure as hell am. It's ok when you're a kid and you can run around having snowball fights and making snowmen, but when you're an adult, you got things to do!

Anyway, the bulk of my training gets done in my garage at the moment and it's freezing in there. Even though I'm wearing plenty of layers, including double socks, It's still difficult motivating yourself to work out in these conditions, but it has to be done. In fact it can be useful.

Apparently working out in a colder temperature is good for you as the body uses slightly more energy to warm itself up. This would result in using more calories than you would if you did the same workout at a warmer temperature.

It's the same principle when trying to fit your three litres of water in a day. Drinking cold water requires your body to warm itself, therefore using a few extra calories.

Hopefully that should be some motivation to get out of bed on these bitterly cold mornings!

December Weigh In

Well well well, I'm getting good at this! Another loss this month! Not quite the 6.5kgs I lost in October, but nevertheless, another inspiring piece of progress.

Weighed in at 79.6kg this morning. I'm glad to be back in the 70kg zone, even though it's just by the skin of my teeth!!!

Here's how things stand:

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)
1st July - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st August - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st September - 84.1kg (13stone 3.40lbs)
1st October - 86.8kg (13 stone 9.36lbs)
1st November - 82.3kg (12 stone 13.44lbs)
1st December - 79.6kg (12 stone 7.48lbs)

The January weigh in will be a tricky one. Will need to make some good inroads before Christmas.

More of the same please!

Working out barefoot

It was a very busy week work wise last week and I was totally shattered by the weekend. Admittedly, I didn't do much running last week, but I still stuck with all of my weight workouts, despite my freezing cold garage, and did quite a bit of cardio work on the punch bag too.

One thing that I've been doing for a few months now and I'd highly recommend is working out barefoot. The theory behind this one is that when working with weights, you need to have a solid, supportive core structure, from your chest and abs, down to your legs and feet. Working out barefoot actually helps to develops muscles in your feet while you workout the other muscles in your body, so in a way it doubles your workout just by taking your trainers off. It makes for stronger feet to support the rest of your body.

I guess this is the way caveman would've trained back in the day, walking and running barefoot. Ideally, if you like to run, running on a soft surface barefoot would be the ultimate way to strengthen your feet, but unfortunately that environment isn't available to everyone.

Try working out barefoot for a week and see how you get on. I found it tough at first, but months later, my feet honestly feel stronger for it. I can feel the difference, especially in squats, lunges and calf raises. Trainers squash and mould your feet in an unnatural position, going barefoot allows them to breathe and be free they way they should be.

Injury worry

Got this niggling injury worry since the run on Saturday which is almost literally a pain in the ass.

It's just below my left buttock and I can feel a pull or a stretch on it when I use my left leg. Annoyed about it because I haven't had any injuries since starting this blog.

Got a weights session later today so I can work around it, but tomorrow is run training, so it needs to be ok for that. Will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

5km Race Update

Had my latest monthly 5km race today and to be honest, I went in to it with an already defeated attitude. I changed my running training regime throughout this month because I was disappointed with my October result and I didn't really take it too seriously, which put me in the frame of mind that this month's run was already going to be a write-off.

Surprisingly enough, I did better than what I thought I would. I clocked in at 27.37 today, which is 27 seconds off my personal best and better than October, so a pretty decent result for me I think.

July 5km - 34.02
August 5km - 30.22
September 5km - 27.11
October 5km - 28.23
November 5km - 27.37

I still really need to work out a good pace because once again, I put my foot down from the start of the race and burnt out by 2.5km. After that I never recovered and was unable to get back to the speed I had originally.

I'm toying with an idea for next month. It's really long winded, but it could work! If I jump on a treadmill at a 12kmph speed, I could listen to random music until I find a track which is the same speed as the pace I'm running. Once I've done this, I can pick out tunes of the same speed, get on my decks and make a mix of about 25-27 minutes. That way, when I run my next race, I can try to stick to the same pace for the whole race.

Long winded, but could work!

Workout while watching TV

If you wanted to, doing some light working out while watching TV can be very beneficial.

It doesn't have to be anything intense, but if you're watching TV for half an hour or even more, you could do some body weight exercises like squats, jumping jacks, press ups, crunches, stretches etc.

If you want to up the game up, use some light dumbells, tins of beans or bottles of milk for resistance.

I'm about to watch the England game and as it's a friendly, I'm at home watching it so I'll be going for press ups and stretches throughout the game.

Business as usual

Just got out of the gym, went for a run. Hopefully I'm back in the swing of things.

The next 5km run is coming up. More details on that later.

Respect to @donnyrax on Twitter too, he's enjoying the old peanut butted on wholemeal bread vibe!

Reflection

This past week has been an interesting week for me, generally not for good reasons! I managed to undo a lot of hard work and graft that I put in October to lose 6.5kgs this past week. I did only TWO days of exercise out of six and ate junk FOUR out of seven days. Effectively, I feel like I'm going backwards and I just don't know why.

It's funny because last week was a week where lots of people spoke to me/contacted me about my blog too. I didn't realise so many people were reading it! One common thing they mentioned to me was how different I'd look in a years time from starting this blog and how they were looking forward to seeing a different me.

I felt a bit crappy when I heard that because here I am, just trudging along, going from one month to the next, a little bit of exercise here and there, not really pushing myself. In my head I feel like when people see my next June or July, the only difference is I'll be a few kilos lighter than I started.

That's not what I wanted when I started this blog. I wanted to push myself as far I as I could and I wanted this to show physically after a year, be that with t-shirt filling arms or a six pack or a bigger chest.

At the moment, it's not happening and I don't feel like I'm making good on the challenges I set myself. That's why I need this post now to take a step back and really see where I am with this challenge. Writing it down and putting it out there will be better than just going over it in my head.

So as a recap, here's what I wanted to achieve in a year (I only have six months left!) and here's how I'm getting on:

5km Runs
The idea behind this was to run an official 5km race every month in order to improve my stamina for a larger goal at the end of the twelve months. I've made good on this so far as I started in June and have run every month, as well as having my place booked on several other runs up until February.

Things were going great until I hit a plateau last month. Each month, I managed to improve my running time, starting with approximately 35 minutes and getting it down to 27 minutes, only to clock in at 28 during my last run in October.

This hit me hard because I really trained hard for that run and was so certain I could get down to 26 minutes. I've totally altered my training for my November run, but I'm not confident that I can break the 26 minute barrier this month due to my pathetic, lazy, almost exercise free week last week.

The good thing is that I'm going to keep going and I'm booked up months in advance. Of all aspects of the challenge, this is the one that I'm proud of the most.

The Splits
After getting back into Kung Fu following a ten year gap, I realised after a few weeks I wouldn't be able to stick it out because of long term work commitments. I have a punch bag at home and still continue to practice my moves on it as it still always works as a good cardio session.

One thing I took away from it that I still wanted to achieve and knew I could work on is performing the splits. I was always more into my kicking than punching in Kung Fu, so I added this challenge a few months ago to the Twelve Month Mission because it would be useful for my kicking and would be great for warm up/cool downs. It's also beneficial just to keep the body supple and flexible.

To be honest, I've got nowhere with this so far. I do stretch a few times a week, but after reading many articles about the splits, you need to be doing at least two sessions of stretching a day. One here or there won't do jack.

This is something which is more than achievable in the remaining six months, but there's lots of work to be done there. I'll get started on that tonight.

Six Pack
I'm one of the many millions of people who know exactly what to do to get a six pack, but don't have the discipline or drive inside me to do it. This attitude MUST change.

When you see these models on the cover of magazines with their abs out, believe it or not, they're not always like that. To get abs, you generally need to get your body fat to roughly 8% or below. These models will be about 10% and when they know they've got a photo shoot or an appearance, they'll up the protein and working out and cut out the carbs for a couple of weeks to get their abs more defined.

Point is, I have a long way to go to get to 10% body fat. During October, I managed to lose 6.5kgs, but my body fat % is still quite high. I went down from about 25% to 23%. If we say for arguments sake I can drop approximately 2% a month, I'd be on target for a six pack in the middle of next year. That would take a lot of work and discipline and is just speculation, because as you may know already, the more fat you take lose, the harder it becomes to lose the remaining fat.

It seems unachievable, but as I said, that's not the attitude. This challenge may not happen, BUT I'M GOING TO GIVE A DAMN GOOD TRY.

Hundred Press Ups
This is something that admittedly I've dipped in and out of. I downloaded an app for my phone which helps you to achieve a hundred press ups in a row in about six weeks. I am now attempting it for the fourth time. Each time I seem to do it, I get to around the fourth week and then get too 'busy', meaning I have to start from scratch. I'll tell you now, I'm into the fourth week of the programme (again) and I'M NOT giving this one up this time.

Soon enough I should be able to complete this challenge and once I have, you'll get the video evidence up here!

Three Peaks Challenge
This is going to be culmination of the Twelve Month Mission. All the hours of weight lifting, all the running, all the stretching for flexibility, all of the correct eating for energy and muscle growth, everything will be brought together for The Three Peaks challenge... trekking on a mountain in England, Wales and Scotland in 24 hours.

I'm going to have to dig in and pull out all the stops for this one. I WILL do this. I have made the enquiries, got the costing together etc and it's looking like it'll be in mid July.

I feel a whole lot better getting this off my chest. I'm motivated following my miserable week, I've got all my food and protein shakes for tomorrow and I'm going to do some stretching and press ups before I go to bed this evening.

I thought I finally got a grip of this in October, but then I made major lapses last week. It has to stop now.

Time to up the game.

Back to bad habits...

I've had an absolutely awful past two days. Absolutely awful.

After losing 6.5kg in October and starting off strong in November, I haven't worked out since Monday and have had two, massive, chocolate and takeaway infused binges on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

I ate well today, have made my food for tomorrow and have set my alarm for 6am so I can get up and hit the weights and punch bag hard. Will let you know how I get on.

Cinema food ban broken

I know I'm only supposed to binge once a week and following a big one on Friday last week for Diwali, that should've been it for the week. But it wasn't.

I took my wife out to dinner on Sunday, not because I wanted to go, but genuinely because I wanted to treat her. To be honest I didn't feel too bad because I'm still knocking off the weight and keeping up with exercise and feeling good about it. One thing I am disappointed about and regret through is I broke my self imposed cinema food ban!

As I'm a regular down at the cinema, I always used to get a Ben and Jerry's sundae with Phish Food, Caramel Choo Choo, whipped cream, chocolate sauce and white chocolate polar bears. Basically about two days worth of fat and sugar in one go. I said I would stop buying any food at the cinema until the end of the year.

Although this Sunday I managed to tone it down with just two scoops and not a sundae, I sill regret doing it because I'd lasted five films and was doing so well.

Great. Well I'll start again now. I think I should treat it like the weekly binge because I'll go mad without it. Instead of saying I'll go without it until the end of the year, I'll change tactics and say that since I already went five times without a sundae, I'll try and make it to seven, then ten etc. We'll see what happen from there.

Mad Binge Yesterday

Mad binge yesterday for Diwali, put on about 1.5kg. Back on track now today though, going for a run in a bit and will get on with the press up challenge too.

Hoping to get out of the 80kg territory and back into the 70kg zone this month.

The brilliance of peanut butter

Peanut butter is a great thing to eat when you're looking for a quick snack. If you've got a few hours until your next meal and you feel a bit peckish, have a little spoon full of the stuff or spread it on some wholemeal bread. It's high in protein so gives you a little protein hit.

Beware though, it can be a little fatty so opt for wholemeal or low fat varieties. Tesco do a 25% less fat version and Sainsbury have a 33% less fat one.

Leg Exercises

When you're working out with weights or doing resistance training, I'd recommend making sure you do some leg workouts rather than focussing on certain muscles.

Leg exercises can be difficult to do, so many people neglect them, but working them out can be hugely effective.

The legs are the biggest muscles in our bodies and working them out requires extra energy and results in more calories used, which is never a bad thing.

Try to incorporate leg exercises into your workout, including squats, lunges and calf raises. You don't have to use weights, just try it with your body weight. They're tough, but rewarding, and also contributes to working your full body out, rather than certain muscles.

New Arms Programme

Started a new weights programme that focuses on the arms yesterday. I'll be doing it three times a week and it's based on two exercises for triceps, two for biceps and six full body exercises, including squats, pull ups etc. To incorporate variety, the number of sets and types of bicep/tricep exercises change every two weeks.

It's an eight week programme and since I started it yesterday, I should have my last session on Christmas Eve (right before the massive Christmas blow out!!!).

I'm still a beginner to weights, so I won't be adding a huge amount of muscle to my arm, but eight weeks should be sufficient to get more strength and to make a slight difference visually.

I managed to get through the whole workout pretty easy yesterday, but that's because I think I set my weights too low. The next session is tomorrow so I'll up the weights to put more stress on myself. As I'm doing the session three times a week, I should be seeing an increase in the weight I'm using regularly too.

November Weigh In

FINALLY!!! I'm finally making some progress on this weight loss thing. Finally!!! I weighed in this morning at a 'slender' (lol) 82.3kg, so here's how things are so far...

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)
1st July - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st August - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st September - 84.1kg (13stone 3.40lbs)
1st October - 86.8kg (13 stone 9.36lbs)
1st November - 82.3kg (12 stone 13.44lbs)

How about that for impact?! I'm very pleased with myself with this 4.5kg weight loss, but I'm even more chuffed because I know my 'actual' weight is a little less than this. If you check yesterday's post, you'll see I've actually lost a total of 6.5kg over the month of October. It went up slightly at the start of the month to 87.3kg because of my trip to Amsterdam and finished in with a weigh in of 80.8kg yesterday.

The reason I'm up this morning is because yesterday was my blow out day of the week. I had a family function so it involved lots of samosay and Coke, followed by pizza later, chocolates, more samosay. Trust me, if you're trying to lose weight, you need these days otherwise you'll go mad.

I know I can get back to 80.something kg in a few days so I'm not sweating it. I'm just so happy that I've shifted a huge chunk of weight. It's most definitely same again this month. I'll be starting another mini challenge with my cousin and again, I'll give details of that later, plus I'm starting a new weights regime today which focuses on arms, I'll let you know how I get on with that in the week.

Get in!!!

I'm so pleased that I set up a mini challenge with my cousin this month. We both decided on targets that we wanted to achieve by today and I'm pleased to say that we both met them.

I decided I wanted to shift 5kg from the 1st to 31st October. I really knuckled down and got my eating on point with 4 to 5 small meals a day and one blow out day each week where I eat and drink whatever I want.

I'm so happy to post that I've lost a total of 6.5kg!!! That's a stone. GET IN!!!

It started off bad because I weighed myself on the 1st October and posted it as 86.8kg, but my weight shot up straight after because of a few days in Amsterdam. So in fact, my 6.5kg loss is from a slightly higher weight than 86.8kg.

Also, even though I did a lot of exercise this month, I still had room to do more. Hopefully I can work out more in November.

I don't want to tell you the exact weight for today because I normally weigh in on the first of every month anyway, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow! I must add though, today is my blow out day, so I'll be putting weight on haha!!!

Feeling good

Managed to pull out some old t-shirts today that I haven't worn in ages. Feels good to try them on and not see bulges everywhere!

I've gone a step further too by getting rid of all my L clothes too. Hopefully I can just stick to M now. Gulp.

Cinema food ban... So far, so good

After last night, I think I've been to the cinema five times since I imposed that cinema food ban, and not once have I bought any ice cream, drinks, nachos, hot dogs or sweets. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Let's see if I can keep it going until the end of the year.

Importance of sleep during weight loss

Getting between 7-8 hours of sleep is very important if you're trying to lose weight. Apparently those who only get a few hours of sleep are more likely to pile on the pounds.

I've heard that you can lose up to 116 calories for every hour of sleep you have. If you're keeping your main meals to around about 450 calories, think how much you can lose just by sleeping.

My rule is to always have eight hours of sleep. Even when I get up for work at 4am (like now!), I go to bed at 8pm to make sure I get the full eight hours. It might sound boring, but it's not every night and I do feel so much better for it in the morning, especially when stepping on the scales!

Mini challenge update

I've got until the end of this month to complete the mini challenge I've set with my cousin (see http://mytwelvemonthmission.blogspot.com/2010/09/training-partner.html)

I'm excited about telling you the details of it, but I'll wait until this Sunday to let you know when we've finished.

I will tell you I'm feeling really good right now, though. Energised.

Food For Thoughts

The trouble I've always had is linking binging with emotions. I'm the sort of person who either wants to celebrate a good occasion with food or try to make myself feel better when I'm down in the dumps by stuffing my face.

Now for me, if may not be the same for you, that doesn't really work because I only end up feeling worse after. I feel stuffed, sick, lethargic and may possibly have a migraine he next day, so it can't really work to help me 'feel better'.

I had a day full of highs and lows yesterday and ended up having a pick n mix binge consisting of chocolate, fudge, jelly beans and fizzy cherry cola bottles.

Was I happy when I was eating them? No because I was thinking to myself that my day of relaxed eating is coming this Sunday, I shouldn't be doing this now. Was I happy after? No, felt sick that I ate all of it so quickly. Am I ok with it this morning? No because even though I've only put a couple of hundred grams on, this is a month I've quite honestly being doing brilliantly with food and to be honest that binge was uncalled for.

I think when losing weight, we have to lose this attitude toward food and view it not as something that makes us feel better, but something that we require as fuel in our everyday lives to keep us going.

I read about a theory called 'Pleasure and Pain' in a book called 'Awaken The Giant' by Anthony Robbins. It's a really simple way of thought where you link the feelings of pleasure with something you want and pain with something you don't want.

So with regards to weight loss, I could link the pain with the sickening, tired, lethargic feeling I get after a binge and the pleasure with knowing I'd lose some weight if I didn't binge.

Another example could be that I might feel pain in getting up early and working out, but maybe I should feel pleasure in that as that's the sort of work that will help me achieve the body I want, which in turn is another pleasure.

I think this way of looking at things is useful and can help me to not binge when feeling certain emotions. It's different for everyone though, you need to find for yourself what you regard as pleasure and pain.

By the way, an even easier method to take your mind off food when you're down is just get yourself a new hobby. Sometimes a few rounds on a punchbag can improve your mood. Just picture your boss when you do it.

Weighing Everyday

I know a lot of people are against it, but I've found myself checking my weight everyday. I always make sure I check it as soon as I get up in the morning.

I've heard many people say you shouldn't do it because it seems too obsessive, but I don't see why you can't do it.

Things are going well in terms of weight loss at the moment, so stepping on the scales in the morning is something I actually look forward to, knowing I've done a day of good eating and exercise.

It's really up to you whether you decide to go for weekly or daily weigh ins. If you're looking for huge losses and eating well and exercising right, then maybe holding off to once a week is the way to go. On the other hand, if you're like me and want to feel like you want to see daily results, albeit a smaller amount of loss per day compared to a week, then do it daily.

Do what suits you, but don't let people tell you it's obsessive if you weigh yourself daily!

5km Race Update

Disappointed with my 5km run this month. Managed 28.23, about 1.12 slower than last month. Here's how it stands...

July 5km - 34.02
August 5km - 30.22
September 5km - 27.11
October 5km - 28.23

I was really excited about this run, I genuinely thought I could achieve 25 mins. I've been working very hard on my interval running over this month, notching up about 8km in 45 mins.

I knew I had to run each km at 5 mins max, so I started off very strong, keeping up with the first half of the runners. At 1km, I clocked in at 5.07. So I was a little bit behind and i started to panic. I ended up doing too much in the second km which made things worse in the third and didn't leave me much to salvage in the last 2km.

I'll need to make some tweaks to my training now. I've already got a few things in mind. I'll start working on it from Tuesday.

I'm booked up to January for the 5km races. I'll definitely make an improvement in November.

Quark Cheese

I'm not really a big cheese fan, but if you are, I've come across a great cheese called Quark which could be a good addition to your diet.

It's a soft, creamy cheese that's low in fat and high in protein. I've managed to get some low fat Quark which is a minuscule 0.05g of fat per 100g. If you're on a high protein diet, it's good because it's got a high protein content for a cheese (about 13.5g per 100g).

Since it's creamy, I drop a big spoon of it in a chicken salad and mix it in. It's also good as a sour cream replacement in fajitas.

Unfortunately you can't grate it and put it on a pizza, but that's the compromise of losing weight I guess.

Eating Out

If you're out and about and you haven't got food with you, there are a couple of places I'd recommend for some healthy munch.

For lunch, Subway is always a great place to go. Get yourself a six inch wholemeal sub with some meat and salad (no Meatball Marinara or sauces!) That gives you a high protein, low GI lunch.

For dinner, Nando's is always brilliant. Get a half chicken with brown rice and you're sorted. If you want to reduce fat more, take the skin off the chicken, but that comprises the taste. If you don't mind it slightly bland, then go for it.

Other things to consider if you want to be careful when you're eating out...

• Drink water
• Get a baked potato (no butter) as a good carb hit
• Salad with no dressing's always good with chicken, eggs, fish etc
• Sorbets are a healthier alternative to ice cream

And if you don't want to be careful when eating out, go mad with the menu.

Nike+ Sensor

So got that Nike+ Sensor over the weekend. Finally used it today and it's brilliant.

If you've not seen one before, here's what it looks like...



Basically, you've got two sensors, one that you connect to the bottom of your iPod and a second which goes inside your trainer. It only works with Nike+ trainers, because they have a little slot in the inside of the left shoe that you connect the sensor to.

Once you're up and running, you can set all sorts of runs, ie distance runs, timed runs, calorie burning runs. I used it for a 50 minute run, and every 10 minutes, it alerts you in your headphones how long you've run. I'm sure if I'd set it to 5km, it would alert me every km.

It's brilliant, I love it. You can get spoken feedback as you're running, so it keeps you going. It's got a power song feature too, which kicks in a chosen track for you when you need it for the last part of the run... I'm sure you might be thinking Eye Of The Tiger haha!!!

It's a good addition to your running, well recommended.

On target...

Even though I was on/off with my exercise in the past couple of weeks because of a mix of Amsterdam/run down/possible flu, things are looking good because I'm dropping off the kilos.

Got the October 5km run coming up soon, a new weights regime which focuses on arms and the end of the mini challenge that I set with my cousin (will go in to more detail towards the end of the month about that)

I've also got that Nike+ iPod Sensor which I'm looking forward to using tomorrow morning. Will let you know how I get on.

Pasta Sauce Recipe

I've been making this pasta sauce recently and I'm loving it because it's low fat, quick to make and gives you a few servings for the week.

The trick I use is to make it in a Teflon saucepan, that way I can avoid using any oil. If you don't have a Teflon saucepan, I recommend you get one because it's non-stick and you can eliminate oil from your cooking. If you don't, then just put a drop of Olive Oil in.

Ingredients

1 onion finely chopped (I like to use red onions)
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
Paprika
Oregano or other Italian Herbs

Method

Dead easy, just brown the onions and garlic in your saucepan until their soft (about 3-5 mins on a medium heat), then add the tomatoes and simmer on a low heat for about 20 mins. Add the oregano and paprika to taste.

It's great because you get about 3-4 servings out of it and I think it's better than buying processed sauces. Put some meat or vegetables in, whack in some wholemeal pasta and you've got yourself a good, healthy meal.

Cinema Food Ban

You know I totally love going to the cinema and when I do go, there's always a special I have... A Ben and Jerry's Core Sundae with Phish Food, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, fudge sauce, whipped cream and white chocolate polar bears. It's basically about two weeks worth of fat and sugar!

Now I was pretty impressed with myself when I went to the cinema last Friday and Sunday and had nothing at all but water. I don't know if I'm actually getting sick of the sundae, but I just didn't feel like it.

On that note, I've self imposed a ban on cinema food for the remainder of 2010. Trust me, that won't be easy as I want to watch Wall Street, Saw 3D, Action Replayy, Tees Maar Khan, The Social Network etc etc

Will let you know how I get on during my next visit.

Back on the wagon

I'm very proud of something I managed to achieve over the weekend. Now you know my style when I eat junk, I do it royally. When I'm bad with food, I'm REALLY bad. If I eat junk one day or go out or something, then I'll eat rubbish the next day, then the next day, then the next, until it turns into about five days straight gorging on takeaways, chocolate, drinks etc., which then results in lots of headaches and feeling lethargic too.

Now on Saturday, I had a wedding to go to. Even though I tried to be good, I ended up eating about three plates of starters, two main meals and lots of beer. When I woke up on Sunday, I was thinking about all the junk I could eat that day and the fact that I was going food shopping later and the cinema too (Ben and Jerry's!)

Something sensible finally took control of and said 'No, snap out of it. You ate loads of junk yesterday, you enjoyed it, GET OVER IT!!!'

And just like that, I did.

For the first time this year, I managed to have a day of binging which was just that. One day only. Nothing more. Sunday was back to some real, clean, healthy eating. When I stepped on the scales this morning, I was so much better for it. I'm feeling the extra energy too and I'm minus the headaches I get after junk.

I'm hoping I can use wisely and build in one day of 'relaxing' (not too much though!) so I don't go made without chocolate etc. Let's see how it goes.

October Weigh In

Never got a chance to post on Friday, so I took my weight and here it is.

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)
1st July - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st August - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st September - 84.1kg (13stone 3.40lbs)
1st October - 86.8kg (13 stone 9.36lbs)

I know, I know, I'm totally going backwards here, but trust me. I had a moment of clarity over the weekend. Expect big changes on 1st Nov. If not, I'll give £100 to whoever emails me first on info@jasrao.com

But beleive me, it's not going to go there.

Stretching

Ever since I've started doing Kung Fu again, I've been adding some basic stretches to my work out routine and I've been noticing a lot of difference. I've never been someone who can touch my toes without bending my legs and though I still can't do it, I am getting closer and I'm able to kick higher too.

I started doing a bit of hunting around on the splits because I know this will be useful in Kung Fu and general flexibility and I found plenty of websites saying you can learn the splits in a week, which I think is a load of rubbish. That's probably possible if you're a dance or gymnast, not if you're an everyday, tightly wound, limited flexibility person like myself.

Anyway, I found this site http://www.wikihow.com/Stretch-for-the-Splits which looks pretty useful. I think I'll try to add these stretches to my routine in the morning and possibly before I go to bed at night. In fact, we'll add the splits to the challenges on the Twelve Month Mission.

On that note, here's how things are looking so far:

Football Tournament - Completed
5km Race every month for a year - In progress
Splits - In progress
Six pack challenge - In progress
Hundred press up challenge - In progress
Kung Fu - In progress
Three Peaks Challenge - June 2012

There's still plenty of work to do. Woah.

Positive Comments

Got some really good comments over the weekend. Saw some family that I haven't seen in a while and a couple of them commented on how I'd got more definition around my shoulders and bigger arms (although I still think there's only a slight increase in them!)

I guess it helps if you're doing something like this and you see people who you haven't seen in a while because they'd really be able to see the big differences in you. When people see you everyday, including looking in the mirror yourself, you may not be able to see the differences as much as others.

Anyway, they were positive comments for me to take on board and to keep me carrying on. Brilliant.

Training Partner

If you're looking to follow a work out programme or just eat better, I think one of the best things you can do is find a person or group of people who have similar goals to you as a way of keeping you on track. You may read about it all the time, and I know different things work for different people, but for me I think it's a brilliant idea that I'd recommend.

I was talking to a close cousin of mine over the weekend and we've devised a plan that hopefully we'll stick to that should keep each other on track with our goals. Last year, when we challenged each other over two months, I managed to lose my target of two stone and he completed his target too. We've got a chemistry that blends both support and healthy competition and it definitely works. If you can find someone or a group of people like this, trust me, you'll enjoy it the new found motivation.

So the plan we've come up with differs from our plan last year, in which we both wanted to be a certain weight at the end of two months. This time round, we're going to set monthly targets to stick to. The interesting thing is, they're not always going to be weight targets. One month I may say, 'I want to be x kg's', the following month I may say 'I want to get my 5km time down to x minutes' and the month after, 'I want to be able to bench x kg's'.

I think mixing these goals up on a monthly basis keeps the motivation and competition going and adds a freshness to your goals. You might get bored with constantly looking at weight as a target, so using other markers can mix things up for you.

We only started yesterday and we've both set weight targets for the end of the month. I'll let you know how I get on. We said we'd do it for six months initially, but there's no reason why you couldn't do it for life. You don't need to constantly need to lose weight, for instance if you reach an ideal weight, you could use the same weight target the following month to see if you can maintain that level. It is, however, useful to challenge yourself physically.

If you can find someone or a group of people who'll do this with you, it could really be worthwhile. If you're doing it already, good stuff and why didn't you tell me before!?

Ideal weight/frame

I was having a hunt about and I noticed that Joe Calzaghe is 5 foot 11.5 inches, which is exactly the same height as me. I checked the weight he used to fight at, and it's all pretty much around the 76kg mark.



I'm going to be using this as some motivation and inspiration now. If Joe Calzaghe had the perfect boxing physique at the same height as me and at 76kg, that's got to be achievable for me. I started the year off at 72kg and even though I'm over 80kg now, hopefully by the end of this twelve month mission I could get to that similar build.

At least I've got a bit of a marker now. He's the same height and I've been his weight before, so I just need to build the muscle and drive the fat down. Easier said than done, but I'm in the third month of this mission. Surely nine months is a reasonable amount of time to achieve this?

Third 5km Race Down... Nine To Go...

I'm writing this as my body is aching from pains from yesterday's 5km race. Good news is it was worth the pain because I've notched up my best ever 5km time now, beating the last record by OVER THREE MINUTES!!! I managed to complete yesterday's race in 27 minutes and 11 seconds! Brilliant!!!

Here's the progress so far:

July 5km - 34.02
August 5km - 30.22
September 5km - 27.11

It's really encouraging to see the figures going down. I know there's a drastic decrease from race to race, I'm sure that gap will get smaller as we go along, but I'm totally over the moon about this latest result. Break the 25 minute barrier for the next race in October? Let's not jump the gun yet, we'll wait and see.

This was a charity fun run rather than a race like the last competition I was involved in. There were lots of different abilities here. I made the usual mistake again that I did last time too. After 1km, I looked around for someone who was running at a similar pace to me and stuck with him, but at around 3km I thought I'd leave him behind. By about 4.5km, I was flagging and he just jogged right by me and finished before me. I really need to learn to keep a reasonable pace for 4km and then really up the intensity as best I can for the final km. I had a nice sprint finish though.

Even though I'm doing the 10km obstacle course in October, I've booked myself in for a 5km run in October too, even though I said I wouldn't because of the obstacle course. Sod it, I've booked it now. In fact, I've booked the next three races until December. That'll be six by then, half way there.

Surely I should be under 25 minutes by then?

Kung Fu Fighting

Had my first lesson in Kung Fu last night in yen years and it was brilliant. My body is in so much pain this morning and that can only be a good thing. I remembered some of the moves and techniques from when I used to practice years ago. Main thing is, I enjoyed it, I found it challenging and hopefully I'm in it for the long haul.

Only thing is now, I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew! Thing is, Kung Fu won't work if I only go to a club once a week. I'll need to practice the techniques at least every other day, and this comes with having to stretch every day to get the flexibility for better techniques, especially kicking. Add this to the Press Up Challenge, running and weight sessions, basically I'm going to go mad!

Sod it, it's done now, I'll stick with it!

Got a 5km run coming up, will post up after it's done.

September Weigh In

It's the first of the month, and time for another weigh in.

After stepping off the scales this morning, I weighed in at 84.1kg, 0.9kg less than last month. Here's how it stands so far:

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)
1st July - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st August - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st September - 84.1g (13st 3.40lbs)

Now I've got mixed emotions today. I guess I should be happy that I've managed to at least lose some weight, albeit a very very small amount. Unfortunately though, August was another one of those months where I actually got my weight down to roughly 80kg. It took about 2-3 weeks to do it, and then it just took the remainder of the month to put all the crap back on.

I went away for the second to last weekend of August, but here's the problem. I binged about a day before I went away (there was no need to), totally drank and ate lots of rubbish while there and then carried it on for the rest of the week and following weekend. Basically, I only got my act together on Monday just gone.

When you compare the weight to what it was in June, I am still technically going backwards. The only thing I can attribute it to is the food. Once I binge, I can't stop! As always, it's something I have to get under control myself.

Onto some positives now, my body is totally aching right now because I've still kept up with my exercise. Plenty of running and plenty of weight sessions. Even during that weekend that I was away, I found the gym and made sure I did plenty of running.

I've finished the football now. Part of this challenge was to get involved in a football tournament, which I did with my work lot. Unfortunately, we didn't make it beyond the group stage so it had a pretty abrupt ending. To replace that now, I'll be starting Kung Fu tomorrow. I used to do it about ten years ago and thought I'd take it up again because I know it will help with my flexibility. I'm looking forward to it. It's late tomorrow night so will let you know on Friday how it was.

Finally, my arms are looking as big as they've ever looked. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking Arnie arms here. I think I may have added roughly about half an inch to them. It's not a big amount, but it's definitely spurring me on because as I said, they're looking the best they've ever looked.

Got the next 5km coming up soon, so training for that too.

Will update you on Friday with the Kung Fu.

I may have some recruits for the Three Peaks Challenge next year too! That should be fun.

Number 1!!!

This is random... I just received my shirt number for the September 5km run in the post today, and it's number 1!!!

Either I was early registering, or I'll be running on my own. Either way... PRESSURE

Getting back on track...

Yesterday I went week at the knees. After 12 days of clean, healthy eating, I ended up having a massive burger, chips, coke and lots of ice cream at the cinema yesterday.

Now I think the key is to not get down about it. When I had that major binge a few weeks ago, I got down about it and ended up eating more and more, day after day. The way I need to look at it is to move forward and think 'yeah, I enjoyed all the junk yesterday, here's to the next time'.

Things are looking good so far, plenty of water, healthy home made Chinese food and a tricep/chest session. I know if I get through this day, then I'll be back on track.

I once spoke to a personal trainer who said you need a day once a week where you go off the rails (within reason), saying that you're basically like a computer that's left on all the time. You need to press Ctrl+Alt+Del or switch off at least once a week. I know a lot of people would read this and love the sound of it, but I think with the gains I'm trying to make, I should perhaps aim for relaxation only once every two weeks until I get to a more desired weight.

Second 5km Completed!

I'm very pleased with my latest 5km run from last night. I managed to complete the run in 34 mins and 22 secs, almost 4 mins fast than my last time!!!

It was a very, very tough course because it was quite hilly and had lots of different gradients. This one was a proper 'race' as opposed to a 'fun run', so it had people in their from professional/amateur running teams.

I decided to stick with a couple of the slower people at the back to pace myself, but then I got a bit cocky and went ahead of them half way through the race, only for them to catch up and overtake me when I ran out of steam towards the end.

Here's how it stands so far:

July 5km - 34.02
August 5km - 30.22

September and October races have also been booked, bearing in mind October's is a 10km obstacle course, not a 5km run. If I can find a 5km run towards the end of October, I may consider doing that too, but I won't get too boosted just yet!

Eating and exercising going very well, hopefully will be pleasantly surprised for the next weigh in on September 1st.

On the road...

Gotta quickly say I'm very impressed with myself today (haha). I'm at Cardiff Mela all day today and got up early and made all of my meals to take with me and some pre-mixed protein shakes too.

It's been a good week with food and exercise. Next 5km run coming up soon. I'll keep you posted.

So far so good(!)

Ok, it just takes one day of some good, clean, healthy eating and exercise to get back on track... and hopefully I'm back on track for good. I've done all my weight sessions and cardio and will do some hill running tomorrow, plus I've been eating well since the start of the week. I'm already under that 85kg mark, now I need to keep it like that until the end of the month.

August Weigh In

Dear oh dear. More pathetic news with the weigh in this month. Let's just get on with it.

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)
1st July - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)
1st August - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)

Pathetic isn't it? ABSOLUTELY PATHETIC!!! Especially when you hear what happened last month. Things were going brilliant in the first three weeks of July. Three weights sessions a week, two running and one football. Plenty of exercise and spot on food habits. Decent amount of protein, less carbs, no more than 2000 calories. In fact I was doing so well, I got down to 80.9kg in July. 80.9KG!!! AND I ENDED THE MONTH ON 85KG!!! WHAT?!?

Everything I had achieved in three weeks was undone by just over a week of binging, take aways, chocolates, ice cream, junk and booze. It's put me back to where I started (I'm counting July 1st as the real start of this challenge). A second month goes by and here I am saying the same thing, 'I'll do better next month' yaddah yaddah yaddah.

There IS NO CHOICE now. I have a the next 5km run on the way in the next few weeks, I have about ten weeks to go until that massive 10km challenge and this is all preparation for the Three Peaks mountain climbing challenge next year. I need to go cold turkey. Straight. Just get on with it.

Positives I can take away from last month include the fact that I lost over 4kg's in three weeks. Since I've got a lot of excess flab on me now, it should hopefully work out the same over the next three weeks. Another thing I was impressed was during those three weeks, I went out twice to a restaurant and made brilliant choices. One was for dinner, so I had a big chicken salad with water and no carbs because it was at night, and one was for lunch, so I had chicken and brown rice with water. These are exactly the things I would eat at home and I took that template with me when eating out. At least there are some good things to take away from last month.

I'll check in a few days time and let you know how I'm getting on. 5km training later on today.

One down, eleven to go!

Just completed my first of twelve monthly 5km runs. I'm aching all over right now. It was a little disappointing but I'm going to focus on the positives. I had to walk a couple of bits of it which slowed me down and I clocked in at 34 mins 02 secs. I'm a bit disappointed because I've notched an even 30 mins in training before. Oh well, I've started now and the only way is up. I'll do much better in the August race.

So here's how it stands:

July 5km - 34.02

I'll post my monthly race times rather than the training times so you can compare the progress on a monthly basis. The next run is just under four weeks away.

Time for a munch now! Healthy of course ; )

Triple whammy!!!

What a mad day. I did my bicep/back workout in the morning, press up challenge in the afternoon and just come back from an hour of footy. I feel shattered, but I still feel like I'm up for more. I think I did a better job on the press ups in the afternoon than before going to bed so I'll stick with that now.

Anyway, off to bed now, got 7km of intervals to do in the morning.

PS, we drew 2-2.

5km Latest

Ok bad news. Unfortunately I'm not going to be able take part in my first monthly 5km run tomorrow. Something's come up. But to show it's not a cop out, I've already booked myself in to take part next week. I'm nit giving up, I promise. Eating and dieting going brilliantly this week.

Survival Of The Fittest

Things have been pretty mixed since my last post. I've got the exercise routines down to a T. Since I've been back from holiday I've been doing my three runs a week and three weights sessions with a bit of swimming whenever I can.

As you can see from my July weigh in, food seems to be more the issue at the moment. People say when it comes to losing weight, if you could only choose between a good diet and an exercise routine, it would be the good diet that would give you better results. What good's all the working out I'm doing if I'm eating lots of crap?

Looking at the positives though, I'm hopefully getting back on track. Over the weekend, I planned out and wrote down what I was going to eat this week and so far it's doing the trick. I've spaced the meals/snacks out every threeish hours and am just going to my notes to see what I can eat rather than eating any old rubbish. I've managed to put a good mix of homemade Indian, Italian, Chinese and other foods in too. It's been a good few days, lets hope I can carry it on.

I'm feeling pretty mixed right now though. I'm positive because of the food, but I'm getting headaches too, which I put down to the lack of junk food I'm having. My body's probably used to so much sugar and rubbish, but I need to push through it.

Onto some other news then, the first of my monthly 5k runs for a year starts this weekend. I'm looking forward to it. Been doing some running in preparation so I'll let you know how it goes over the weekend. In fact, every month when I do an official run, I'll give you my timings. That way we can compare the timings each month, and hopefully they'll improve!

I've already booked my runs for July, August and September, but I won't be doing a 5k run in October. Before you laugh, I'm not skipping the month! You will not believe what I've booked myself in for... the MEN'S HEALTH SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST CHALLENGE!!!

Now if you're not sure what this is, let me tell you it's a 10km run with a 'twist'. I've been involved with two 10k runs in the past, but this is something different.

Basically, every km of this run has an obstacle. I'm not talking about some little hurdle you jump over. I saw the video from last year's challenge and each obstacle is BIG! I'm taking about a 3 meter high pile of hay that you need to climb up and come back down from, a Free Running/Parkour zone and an 8 foot high wall that needs to be scaled to name a few of the ten challenges.

How am I supposed to climb an 8 foot wall? There's no ladder, no grips, nothing. Just a straightforward 8 foot wall.

It's mad isn't it? I'm looking forward to it though. You're taking about an intense physical experience that'll probably put you out of action for about three days, even more! It's a scary though, but I'll be ready for it. This is just what I needed to keep me motivated. My running will help me with the general parts of this challenge and my weight sessions will help me with pretty much trying to lift my own body weight with the obstacles, like that bloody 8 foot wall.

I'm excited, bring it on!!!!!

Will let you know how my first 5k run goes this weekend too.

July Weigh In

You will be disgusted with my weigh in this morning. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED!!! I know I am.

This is a culmination of two weeks in America and excessive drinking and eating during the World Cup.

Here's comes the embarrassing bit...

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)
1st July - 85kg (13 stone 5.4lbs)

How bad is that??? Awful isn't it!

Thing is, exercise wise I've been keeping up with everything. I've been doing my weights, running, press up challenge and I'll be starting football once a week in about two weeks time. It's all down to pathetic food habits and the fact that I can't control myself. It's only something I can sort out. Just need to say no!

Got the July 5km run coming soon, will let you know how I get on.

I'm Back!!!

I guess I failed to mention when I started this blog that a week and a half after beginning it, I was heading half way across the world to San Francisco and Hawaii to enjoy a couple of weeks holiday. I guess I thought I could control myself out there. WRONG.

I ended up drinking loads, eating Chinese food, pizza's, burgers, chocolates, cheesecakes, ice creams, basically a lot of very bad stuff.

I'm back now on the blog after those two weeks away and a couple of days video shooting for a friends project. In that time, I don't even need to step on the scales... I can so tell I've put on about a stone (or even more!)

I guess psychologically I wasn't taking this challenge seriously because I knew I was going on holiday, but right now, there's no big holiday to look forward to. There's no excuses. All I can do now is really take this challenge by the scruff of the neck and make some REAL inroads.

So here's the update so far in My Twelve Month Mission to challenge myself physically. The first month (June) has almost gone and quite frankly I have nothing to show for it. This isn't good enough. The plus points are that I've booked 3 5km runs from July - September. From tomorrow I really need to implement the plan I blogged about earlier and with regards to food, I'll be looking to get 200g protein and less than 150g carbs a day, with a day off once a week.

I'll also be starting five-a-side football once a week from next Wednesday, and due to a very minimal amount of exercise on holiday, I'll be starting the 100 press up challenge from next Monday. That's a lot to get through starting from tomorrow, but it's on now. Just watch.

5km Runs

Good news, I've signed up to my first three 5km races!!! Woop woop!!!

I've booked places on races in Leicester, Coventry and Birmingham throughout July, August and September.

Since I'm supposed to be running a race every month for twelve months and I'm not doing one in June, we'll assume that part of the mission has started in July and I'll participate in one every month until June, cool?

Here we go!

I've got an idea of something else I want to add to the mission too. More on that soon when I've done the research.

Press ups

Man, I am having some serious trouble with the hundred press up challenge.

After 18 sessions, you should be able to bang out 100 press ups non-stop. Last week I got to the ninth session and struggled, so they do say you should repeat a week if you can't do it, so that puts me back to the seventh session.

I tried this session again on Monday and I just didn't have the power in my arms at all. I tried again yesterday, I did better, but I didn't complete it. I will try once more tonight. I've got to move along on this now.

First 5km training this morning

I'm very very pleased with the first 5km run I did this morning. I did a 10km run last year and I was getting to 5km round about the 32 minute mark. Considering I haven't run much at all since about November, I managed 30 minutes and 28 seconds!!! Woop woop!!!

I said to myself today that I was not going to stop and was going to complete the 5km no matter what. Obviously 30 minutes to complete 5km is not exactly a fit person's timing (I think the Olympic record is about 12 or 13 minutes), but that's my start now. Each time I run, I will simply beat the previous time. Even if it's by 5 seconds. End of.

I need to start looking for those 5km running events to sign up to too. Due to some commitments, I won't be starting the first one until July, but I'll still make sure I do one every month for a year. I'll try finding one early in July as possible.

Positives:

• Completed the work out fully today, unlike yesterday's swimming and weights sessions
• Did not stop once during the 5km run (even though I might have gone down to a jogging pace, I never stopped or walked)
• Improved my previous time by approximately 1.5 minutes

Weigh In

Right then, onto something I was hoping to avoid, but it had to be done... the weigh in!

What I think I'll do is weigh in on the first of every month. I normally weigh myself in the morning before I eat anything, I think that's the best time. I'm also not too worried if over the period of a month I'm not losing too much weight, because I'm hoping that any weight is put on is muscle. Obviously if the weight stays similar each month, I should be seeing changes in measurements ie waist, chest, arms etc.

1st June - 79.5kg (12 stone 7.3lbs)

Just to give you some perspective about my weight, my height is approximately 6 foot, so an ideal weight for me is between about 72kg - 83kg, although getting towards the heavier end of that scale doesn't suit me aesthetically.

Over the past few years, the heaviest I have been is 90kg, the lightest 72.5kg, therfore my current weight needs to be cut down by a few kilos.

What another flop

Went to the cinema yesterday... I'm sure you can guess what I'm about to say! Ended up having a bloody triple sundae. Not a double, a TRIPLE!!!

Obviously I regret it, but I MUST look forward now. I think from now on when I post up any mistakes, I've got to try and look at the positives of it. I'm normally a negative person, so I'll use it as a useful opportunity to try to think positively.

Man, I give up too easy!

I got up this morning with good intentions to start the workout plan I posted yesterday, but I guess I didn't taken into consideration the past few weeks of binge eating and little exercise.

I headed down to the swimming pool to bang out a quick 20 laps (600m), which I've done easily in the past. This is acting like a muscle warmer before I hit the weights. Anyway, I managed only 16 laps, and that was with rests after every few!!!

At this point I thought, 'don't worry, have a big weights session, it'll be fine'. Half way through the weights, I was like 'forget this'. I'm in so much pain now! I'm disappointed that I didn't complete either. I'm usually a pessimist, but I'll try and take the positives from this. I did actually get up and attempt it, so that's gotta be good right?

Hopefully it'll take me a few days to get back in the swing of exercise. Need to start treating the pain I'm in as a good thing. If I can start to think of it like that, it should push me harder.

Workout Plan

Right, so here's how I propose to work out between now and roughly the end of August:

Monday: Chest/Biceps and Swimming
Tuesday: 5km Run
Wednesday: Triceps/Back and Swimming
Thursday: 5km Run
Friday: Legs/Shoulders and Swimming
Saturday: 5km Run
Sunday: Rest

Seems like a punishing schedule to me, but I'll give it a go and see what happens. All of this should cover the 'six pack by end of 2010' and 'a 5km race every month' part of my twelve month mission.

With regards to the other parts, I'm still looking into climbing/hiking a mountain next year, I'll continue my sessions for my 1oo Push Ups programme three times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) and I'll be playing 5-a-side footy one a week from mid-June, so that covers me joining the work 5-a-side team.

It does seem like a lot of work. A LOT OF WORK. But I can't knock it until I try it. There'll probably be a lot of pain, but I need to turn that pain into a good sign, ie no pain no gain.

It all starts tomorrow. Gulp.

Wahey!!!

Managed to keep 'clean' yesterday. Trust me, it was tough. There are so many distractions, especially on the weekend when you're not at work. I went to do the food shopping and that was one big temptation, but I made it through, only got the healthy stuff! Let's see how long I can keep this up for. It's my best mates wedding next weekend, and I'm going to attempt to eat in moderation and not drink on the night before, but then relax on the wedding day. I'm hoping it's going to be useful to have a day to 'look forward to' where you can relax with your food so in your head you know 'don't eat rubbish today, you can do it on x day'. I finished my work out plan, will post that later.

Dear oh dear 2

So I'm officially half way through the 100 push up challenge. It's a six week challenge where you train three times a week and by the last session of week six, you should be able to do 100 push ups non-stop.

If anyone wants to try you can find more info on www.hundredpushups.com/

Anyway, so far I've managed to complete each session. Last nights session was made up of five sets with the following reps: 15, 21, 15, 15, 21. Unfortunately, after three weeks of completing each session, I flopped at the last set. I managed only 14 and not 21. Oh well, I'm sticking to it. They recommend that if you mess up a week, you just need to repeat it so I'll start the week again.

Almost finished my work out schedule, will post it by tomorrow.

Dear oh dear

Getting out of this bad food phase is a bloody nightmare!!! It's been about three weeks now since I've been on and off junk and it's starting to show in the mirror. Guess it doesn't matter that I'm avoiding the scales. When I eat crap like this, I feel very sleepy all day, tired, sluggish, lethargic and I get headaches pretty easy too. I tried to snap out of it when I went to my sisters house yesterday. I asked her in advance to make me a chicken salad so I could eat that, rather than what she was cooking for everyone else. Long story short, I ate the salad AND two portions of what she made for everyone else AND cheesecake after too. Dear oh dear. Today's a new day so got to press on. Still trying to train my brain to treat food as fuel, not an indulgence. I'll get there eventually!

The Food Thing

Right, so onto this food thing. I kinda see my relationship with food like that of an alcoholic. You know when you're out with your mates, and there's always one who always needs to drink more than anyone else. Not for any reason, they just don't know when to stop. That's me in food terms! When I'm out or at someone's house, I just eat and eat and eat.

When it comes to food, I just gotta have it all. If I'm at Subway, I want a foot long, if I'm at an Indian restaurant, I want rice AND roti, if I'm at the cinema, I want the double scoop Ben and Jerry's large sundae with Caramel Chew Chew, Phish Food, whipped cream and white chocolate polar bears. You get the picture.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not like this everyday, but unfortunately I go through phases that can last weeks. Over the past 4-5 years and with these phases, I could put on about 3 stone, take it off, put it back on, take it off and so on. Clearly that's no good and very unhealthy. I'm sure you've heard about the bad effects of yo-yo dieting! In other health terms, heart disease and diabetes is very much in my family, so utlimately, as grim as it sounds, all that food can only lead to something like that.

So as part of my mission over the next twelve months, an important element is going to be learning self-control. I know people who treat food as fuel, not as an indulgence and I totally agree with their thinking, I just can't get the formula down though. They eat food as something to keep them going, to keep them working, to keep doing what they need to do. Occasionally (perhaps once a week), that's when they sit down and eat whatever they want. They've been working hard all week and being careful what they eat. That's something that's second nature to them, and that's what I'm going to try to learn.

Anybody got any ideas how then now would be a good time to share!!! Haha!!!

I'm going to give it a crack, plus I'll get my workout schedule up here soon as well. Need to start booking myself on some 5k's too!

In a bit.

Check out Fiddy!

Anyone seen 50 Cent at the moment???

He's lost 4 stone in 9 weeks by running on a treadmill for 3 hours a day and going on a liquid diet, all for a film role.

He looks mad! I think he's given me some weight loss ideas ; )

Here's the story http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/usa/2989778/50-Cents-shocking-weight-loss.html

The Plan

So what I plan to do over the next twelve months is to challenge myself physically. Now I'm going to say now that doesn't mean I'm going to run a marathon every week!!! I'm going to take it slow and see how I get on.

Three weeks ago, I started this press up challenge at www.hundredpushups.com/

It's basically a way of building your press ups over six weeks so that in the sixth week, you can bang out 1oo press ups non stop. I've never been able to do more than nine in a row, but I'm at a stage now where three weeks later, I'm doing about 80 push ups over five sets. I really should've started this blog then!

So as for my physical challenges over twelve months, that's the first one.

Here's a few other things I'm going to do:

• Join the work football team and get invovled with the league (Mid-June onwards)
• Run a 5km run every month (I know this might sound easy, but you're talking to a person who hasn't done a lot of running)
• Reveal a six pack by the end of the year
• Some sort of mountain climing challenge early next year.
• And of course there's the press up challenge so that makes five items.

This will be the most amount of physical activity I have ever done in a year. I guess on some month's it will be more than I've ever done in a month!

Anyone got any suggestions on the mountain climbing?

When I post again, I'll get started on the food issues I need to deal with. It's not pretty...

My Twelve Month Mission

Ok, it's my first time blogging, so here goes!

My name's Jas Rao and I'm a radio and TV presenter. Now I'm not here to plug any shows I'm doing or anything like that, although apologies if I do though, but I'm here to really just share my thoughts and feelings with you about 'My Twelve Month Mission'.

Now you might read this and think 'wow, this guy's goin aroung the world' or something like that, but trust me, it's nothing like that at all, it's much smaller and something personal to me that I'd like to share my thoughts and feelings on (if anyone wants to read!)

Those who know me know I'm always banging on about diets and exercising, yadda, yadda, yadda, and even though I do, I can't say I always practice what I preach.

The long and short of it is I want to lose some weight. Not much, just a little. But this is more than that. This is more of a mission over twelve months to challenge myself a bit more phsically and to be more in control of my eating habits.

I know there are people who are in the same boat as me, so I thought I'd just start a blog to share my experiences and ideas... and I'm open to ideas too!

More to follow...