Day 267: 13.1 kg down

Well I got on the scales. Was pretty disappointed as I've busted my arse this week. But the aim was to set a line in the sand to allow me to adjust if I don't go down quickly enough. As it is, I've basically been the same weight since September, which is quite a while.

I'm sure if I replicate last week in the next week or so I'll be able to get back to 15kg, which is my current goal.

UPDATE: I walked into work (1.5 hours +) and then walked after work (1.25 hours). My thinking is if I get in two walks a day, approaching 3 hours, 6 or 7 days a week, then I'm on the right track. I did have a flash lunch though, and when I got back from the office there was a full carton of piss sent to me by someone for free. These things are sent to try us, although, to be honest, I didn't really feel like a drink at lunch and didn't even think about it when I spotted the carton.

Day 266: 38 Weeks

Wow, 38 weeks off the piss.

That's a lot of weeks.

Didn't weigh myself this morning. Slept in a little but still went for my early morning walk with a mate for 1.5 hours. We were talking about our goals for the year and he asked when I could have a drink again. I said that I wasn't sure I would have a drink after my year, as I seemed healthier and happier without it.

His advice was to stay off it if I could.

Pretty pleased with the walking this week. I should say well pleased. Did a serious walk every day but one, and some days I did two. I've started the walking to work plan, which I think is a great one for loss.

Just need to man up and get on the damn scales so I can set a benchmark for the coming weeks.

Back to the week just past. I really think it's the start of a new phase. I'm feeling better each day, and waking up with a little stiffness, but in a good way. My mind is in the right place.

So this week then, I would like to see more of the same, basically, plus the food getting better and better. And I want to jump on the scales in the morning to get things moving.

Day 266: Risotto

I didn't expect to go for a walk today. I was just lazing around when I received a text from a mate, and we ended up doing the 1.5 hour walk around Mt Cootha. Beautiful day, with the wind in the trees.

No regrets there, as usual.

Cooked another risotto for lunch as we didn't have anything planned. Just a butter and parmesan one, with real meat broth. Pretty darn tasty.

Not so sure about dinner. I've got a sweet potato that's calling my name I think. With some rice.

I'm not sure what day I'm going to weight myself to get it cracking. Probably Sunday morning is a good idea. So tomorrow I'll draw a line in the sand and expect some results from here on in with all the walking I've been doing.

That reminds me I've got to SMS a mate to try and line up the big walk tomorrow around the hill.

Day 265: More walking

Well I walked home last night. It was a bloody good workout, partially because I was rooted, and partially because there is a nasty fucking hill where I live.

I woke up feeling as though I am moving in the right direction and walked in just now (1.5).

I ate a shitload last night. As I said, when I start out big with the exercise I go on a bit of an eating rampage. That settles down in time but the exercise stays.

Feeling pretty positive about it all. Want to get back to 15, then aim for 20.

Will weigh myself this weekend.

Day 263: Compliment

I got a compliment today, while walking the hill. It is worth recording, as I do not get many. The complimentor was a fellow who walks with his mates, and his dogs, up the same path my mother and I walk. We have said hello to him for many months, but have not seem him for some weeks. They would be in their 50s, most likely.

At the top of the hill, the fellow he was with asked my mother about New Zealand. The first guy then said to me (his first words spoken to me ever): "You look fantastic - a shadow of your former self. How much have you lost?".

As someone wanting to lose weight, you can't ask for more than that.

As I don't feel I've lost any weight for 6 months or thereabouts, perhaps my body shape has otherwise been changing with the healthy living/exercise. My mother tells me she can see I cut a better profile from behind, not so much the belly but my back/legs and so on.

Anyway, whatever the reason, it's nice to get a compliment. And motivating.

Back to this week: corker Mon/Tue exercise wise, nothing wed (but poor food), and a good walk this morning around the hill (1.5) and I hope to walk home after work, which would bring it to 3+ for the day.

Day 261: Fucking knackered

Almost gone off the blocks too hard. 2.5 hour walk before work today. Started getting distressed half way during the day (check prior blog entries on getting stressed with Cootha) and listened to reason and cabbed it home.

Ate some crap.

But, as I have observed before, whenever I go berko with the exercise I always crave more calories and get distressed. The way through it is to just keep on going with the exercise, focus on establishing a routine, and the food cravings/distress goes away once you are used to it.

Would like to go around Cootha again tomorrow. Hopefully the big one.

GF and her mates are getting PISSED tonight at my place. Doesn't tempt me at all, but does make me feel like having somewhere else to crash to sleep, early.

Day 260: Two walks

Well, first day of the new regime.

Walked for an hour and a half to get to work.

Walked for an hour and 10 minutes after work (and cabbed it home).

Ate a packed lunch, avoided the biscuit jar, and ate my pre-cooked tuscan ragu (made yesterday) with freshly cooked pasta for dinner. I didn't go back for seconds but had grapes for dessert.

Pretty fucking pleased with day one.

Day 257: Back

I'm back. Still off the piss. I have been doing some exercise, but need to get back into an iron clad routine.

I've got a new plan. I'm going to start walking to and from work. I'll still keep Cootha with my mother on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and hopefully the big walk once a week on the weekends.

Tuesday and Thursday mornings I might have to catch the bus in after my Cootha walk.

I also want to keep with the real food, and not too much of it. No crap.

If I do those things I'd like to re-assess in 10 weeks.

So, to get this going I want to do my big walk tomorrow and shop for some real food. I've got a big fridge coming as well, so I might freeze some stuff to ensure that I've got no excuse (certainly some meat broth anyway).

Flood

Day ??: Floods

Brisbane is apparently expected to have its worst floods in over 100 years. Everyone is at home, if they can. Areas are flooded. 9 people have died. 66 people are missing. The main water hasn't arrived yet.

My girlfriend was speaking to her father, and asked him if he had any supplies (as he is isolated and won't be able to shop): "Ah yes", he said. "I have a bottle of gin and some tonic water", in all seriousness.

When pressed on food he said he might have some frozen pork chops.

My sister braved flood waters to buy her 'supplies' (3 kids in the back) - "If I'm going to be stuck in a bloody flood I want to be able to have a bloody rum", she said.

I must say it is good stout weather.

Day 235: Walk

Well I went off the my first walk in a week. A bit rusty, but I was out for an hour and a half. My walking companion said that I looked as though I'd lost weight which was a bonus.

I want to look at joining a gym this week.

Day 234: Salt

I forgot to salt my eggplant before baking it today. It came out of the oven pretty bland. Why would you want to eat it? Not tasty at all.

Some salt, even at the end, transformed it into something delicious. Something that tasted as eggplant should. Not salty. Seasoned. Salt draws out flavour in food, helping it tasting of itself.

Salt, I think, is what allows all the traditional diets of the world to transform vegetables into something tasty.

One of the great horrors of the failed low fat era of the late 80s and early 90s was that not only was fat banned (the other magic key to taste) but also salt. So what were people meant to eat?

Steamed vegetables with no oil and no salt. Disgusting. No wonder people give up on it, or aren't satisfied, and keep eating, feeling as though they just need more, more of something.

Yes we eat too much salt. But I don't think it is possible to cook with too much salt. Processed food has too much salt. If you just have a bunch of chemical or low quality goo and want it to taste better load it up with salt and bad fat. And more chemicals. Great.

If you want to cut down salt, among other things, then cut out the processed crap. All of it.

But if you want to eat real food: onions, carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, spinach, cabbage and make food like soups, roast vegetables, stews or braises, you need salt and fat to transform that real food into tasty food. You can see this in almost all traditional food cultures, and certainly in the French, Italian and Greek food cultures.

In short, you need salt to make real food tasty. And if real food is tasty, then you are not eating crap food with all the problems associated with it.

Day 243: Worth waiting for they say

Day 240: Paint paint fucking paint

You can read all about my day the pub in the comments here:

http://campfirecoyote.blogspot.com/2011/01/41-miles-on-bike-yesterday-temperature.html

Other than that, my fucking kitten drove me fucking mad last night locked in the bathroom due to the mess the house is in. What can you do with a thing that is so little and ignorant that it doesn't even know when you are angry at it? Very fucking little.

Certainly spraying it with a water pistol or feeding it doesn't help (I can attest).

I haven't exercised in a few days, ostensibly because I'm meant to be a tradie style painter developing a tradie style 6-pack due to all my panting. The coast run yesterday didn't help.

Will have to crack the exercise again as soon as the house is painted.

Longevity

Food for thought from Wikepedia again:

Longevity

Alcohol consumption by the elderly results in increased longevity, which is almost entirely a result of lowered coronary heart disease.^[28] A British study found that consumption of two units of alcohol (one regular glass of wine) daily by doctors aged 48+ years increased longevity by reducing the risk of death by ischaemic heart disease and respiratory disease.^[43] Deaths for which alcohol consumption is known to increase risk accounted for only 5% of the total deaths, but this figure increased among those who drank more than two units of alcohol per day.^[43]

In a 2010 long-term study of an older population, the beneficial effects of moderate drinking were confirmed, but abstainers and heavy drinkers showed an increase of about 50% in mortality (even after controlling for confounding factors).^[44]

My granddad died of a heart attack at 50.

Food for thought indeed!

Day 238: Week 34; 13 kg

Well, I'm resetting the weight loss at 13kg. Short term goal then is to get back to 15kg and pretend I never dropped to 13kg.

I was funny in the head yesterday, and felt tired, hungover and irrational. I ended up eating some crap! (hot chips and icecream) which is typical hangover behaviour. I also didn't do my walk.

In my case though I had just had a massive day on new years eve (for me, 5am-1.30am), and got up early. I guess the lesson there is that alcohol is not responsible for all hangover ills, sleep deprivation is. It seems my brain requires a decent sleep in order to behave rationally - anyone else with me on that one? Noticed any bad or erratic behaviour either after drinking or not getting enough sleep?

No excuse today. In bed by 8 and up at 5. That's more like it. Feel much better.

I'm going to try my hand at painting the house in the next day or so, starting with the bedroom. Not my style at all (if I have a style), this handyman work, but the tradies are fucking extortionate these days. Ever since Labor decided that every fucking idiot had to be able to go to uni, every fucking idiot did, instead of becoming a tradie, and the real fucking idiots who did become tradies can now charge whatever they want to do shitty jobs like painting.

Meanwhile all the deadshit arts philosophy grads are all sitting around on the dole, too good to paint my house, thinking deep thoughts about being unemployed.

Good one Labor!

In my case it could cost me about 10k to paint my small little place, whereas the paint only costs 600 bucks or thereabouts.

First up, I need to demould my room. The roof was smashed in a storm a while back and water was getting in. Now there is mould everywhere. Isn't that what killed that Murphy girl?

Wish me luck.

Day 237: New Years

Just as well I don't drink!

That used to be a line I would pull out when I'd get up, badly hungover. But today, I can use it for real.

I'm still knackered as I got to bed at 1.30, and I'm a 9.00 man as I normally get up about 5.

For all those still thinking about piss, I must say it never entered my mind last night (well except when I boiled off some alcohol cooking - my only high - and sniffed the glass going in). But apart from those in your face smell the wonderful alcohol seconds I didn't think of it at all last night, or even think about not thinking about it. I'm only thinking about it now with the blog entry.

Instead the focus was on the nice dinner and the movie I watched. Plus the little coffee machine that now sits in the corner.

My goals have not changed with the new year. I want knock off the kilos really, by getting fitter, eating better and doing a triathlon when I've sorted my shit out. That's it. I'm taking for granted I'm not on the piss at the moment, with long term drinking plans yet to be determined.

I'm going to 'weigh in' tomorrow morning, for the end of week 34, to get things rolling again with the slowly but surely approach to weight loss.

The question is will I walk today? I should - today would be the 6th day of exercise in a row. But really I want to walk every day. As usual the answer is to just put my fucking shoes on and get out the door.