(click for full horror)

Weight: 85kg, Waist: 95.6cm

My brother, cruel little boy that he is, when he sees somebody who is slightly “larger than life” (read, hideously obese), on TV say, likes to chant at the screen, “Eat less! EAT LESS!!” Of course, you would never catch me being so uncharitable, but I like to think that there might be a grain of truth in that, that essentially, staying at a healthy weight can be summed up in the simple motto, “move more, eat less”.

A few days ago (see here) I realised with horror that I am fatter now than I have ever been in my life. It seems that dropping off the amount of exercise you do is generally a bad idea in weight terms, because that’s when the flab starts to attack. And this year I have changed jobs, from one where I used to cycle 5km day just to and fro from work, to one where I work from home. Can this be coincidence..? I have decided to put the rubber on the road where my mouth is (er, to mix my metaphors somewhat), lay my soul and my midriff bare (well, you’re not actually going to get a picture!) and bite the bullet! The spare tyre has got to go!

From now on, once a week, I will be reporting on my fight against the flab and publishing a graph as above (click for a bigger version if it looks indistinct) showing you my progress. (sorry cousins across the Pond, centimetres and kilograms - it’s really high time you went metric!)

Phase 1 - Move more!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have not got all religious about it. I do like to eat, no question. So the first phase of my epic battle will NOT involve the “eating less” bit. I figure I am not really eating much more (hmm, my wife may disagree) than I did earlier in life, I am just moving less. So I reckon all I have to do is burn more of the those calories than I take in! Because cycling is not really possible (or at least the weather is not predictable enough) at this time of year, I will be focusing on running. Ugh! See my thoughts on that, from earlier this year…! (Cycling fitness is not running fitness!) I will also try to do a few hundred crunches a day, though I am reliably informed (well, I read it on the internet) that ab crunches and the like will NOT actually get rid of fat from those areas, but still, it’s good just for burning calories.

Progress so far

I have been running a couple of times in the last week or two, just to get back into it, and I can just about survive a 20 minute run. So yesterday was the first official run and I am going to try to get out at least 3 times a week and slowly build up the distance and time.

Also, today, wonder of wonders, it was actually pretty warm and dry today. So after finishing off some work stuff I actually donned shorts and jersey, clipped in (but of course!) and headed out! Man… It is really a bad idea to pause cycling. It was a killer! I did a 25km round trip, with about 250m of climbing, which I would normally sail round. This time out I felt like quitting several times, but I sort of willed myself on (there’s a lot to be said for that) and happily made it all the way round, liberally spattering myself with mud from snow melt, to the horror of the guests that awaited me at home! One of these days I will get those mudguards…

Anyway, so I am going to keep this up and see how I go. I DO have the motivation (a look in the mirror is enough), but I just wonder if I can avoid… Phase 2!! Shudder…!

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Posted on November 23rd, 2007 by markowe
Filed under: About me, Biking - general