WEEK 1
Well thats the first week in, time for a review. I will split it into two sections, fitness and nutrition.
FITNESS - this has been a let down, mostly due to the bad weather. But I cant use that as an excuse. So i will head out tonight running. As I only completed one part of my running plan I will start again from scratch. I also plan to clear out my garage tonight so I can make room for some kettlebell swinging!!
NUTRITION - This has been better than fitness, but is still no where near where I should be. I haven't written up a proper eating plan. I am not controlling my calories, I am still guessing. Where I have made progress is my mental state. Now when I eat something, I think of the good it will do me, and more importantly the harm it will do me. My biggest issue this week has been due to poor planning of meals, I have been going into starvation mode. But I know I am doing it, and I know how to solve it, I just need to concentrate on sorting out the meal plan. Last night was spent making meals for the next couple of days. I will get there eventually!
Below are my new stats for the week
Age: 39Height: 5' 9"Weight: 225 lbs% Body Fat: 28.6%Lean Body Mass: 162lbs Fat Mass: 63 lbs
The change is purely down to me using the accumeasure fat calipers, as my old calipers broke. These should be far more accurate. I am going to measure myself every night, but only to put the practice in so i can get as accurate a reading as possible!
All in all I don't want to beat myself up too much for the last week. My mental attitude is better and that is a big step forward. I didn't expect to lose any weight as I had a day out on Saturday with beer involved, but that's gone and I don't plan any more alcohol until the New Year. This week is another new beginning!

Yesterday i started my 6 week running routine, Christ it was hard work near the end. I also done what was even harder, i took some photos of myself as a reference. Nothing brings it home more than looking at those photos. i will post them up here but not yet. i took a photo with a newspaper to show the correct date, and will use this as my bench mark. i also took some base stats for me to work on. They are

Age: 39
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 225 lbs%
Body Fat: 32%
Lean Body Mass: 153lbs
Fat Mass: 72 lbs

Now the first two i cant doing anything about, but the rest will get addresses. I used a set of skin thickness calipers to work out my body fat, i don't know how accurate they are but they will do me. I will measure myself each week. So 72lb of fat to burn off. Last night was a start, unfortunately a woman crashed her car into mine last week and I have injured the finger on my left hand. This will restrict the weight training i had planned, and also the swimming I was going to do, but i cant keep putting this off, so i will do what i can. i have the hospital tomorrow so hopefully the finger is on the mend.
My aim is simple, 2lb a week every week, with no lean body mass lost, and ideally body mass increased due to muscle gain. I know that wont happen straight away, i need to work at it, as I still don't have the nutrition side nailed down yet. Yesterday I tried 5 small meals and the culture change is huge, and will have an impact on my home life, but they understand.
Starting now is also significant because I didn't want to wait until the New Year as I would just put on even more weight over the holidays, not what i want!!

Run Fat Boy Run

I have come across an ideal running plan to get me started. it covers 6 miles and takes someone who is a poor runner into someone who can run for 30 minutes. This will be stage 1. The plan is

Week 1
Monday - run 1 min, walk 2 mins, repeat 10 times
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - run 1 min, walk 1 min, repeat 10 times
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - run 1 min, walk 1 min, repeat 15 times
Sunday - rest

Week 2
Monday - run 2 mins, walk 2 mins, repeat 6 times
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday run 2 mins, walk 2 mins, repeat 10 times
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - run 2 mins, walk 1 min, repeat 10 times
Sunday - rest

Week 3
Monday - run 3 mins, walk 3 mins, repeat 5 times
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - run 3 mins, walk 2 mins, repeat 6 times
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - run 5 mins, walk 1 min, repeat 10 times
Sunday - rest

Week 4
Monday - run 6 mins, walk 3 mins, repeat 4 times
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - run 5 mins, walk 2 mins, repeat 4 times
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - run 8 mins, walk 3 mins, repeat 3 times
Sunday - rest

Week 5
Monday - run 8 mins, walk 2 mins, repeat 3 times
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - run 10 minutes, walk 2 mins, repeat 2 times
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - run 20 minutes
Sunday - rest

Week 6
Monday - run 12 Min's, walk 2 Min's, repeat 2 times
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - run 15 Min's, walk 2 Min's, repeat 2 times
Thursday - rest
Friday - rest
Saturday - run 30 minutes
Sunday - rest

All this effort to go from walking and being out of breath to being able to run 30 minutes will take combined just over 9 hours of my time over the next 6 weeks. Not much is it. It also means i can work in other exercises such as kettlebells without impacting on my time too much.

This weekend I re-read some of my most recent posts, a little reminder of where I am. I covered diet, and with that i know what I need to do. I also covered metabolism, and that is linked to diet(frequent meals) and also to exercise. So what will I need to do with that? Well lets start with the kettlebell. I will use this for strength and cardio vascular exercises. I will also start hitting the pavements with some running. Cycling might not be a great option with the dark nights and colder weather, and I will also do some swimming. One option i haven't considered recently is going to the gym. I don't like the gym, never have. But I have to build muscle to increase my metabolism, so maybe I don't have that option. Will i write out a plan? I don't know, it seems the one thing i am good at is breaking plans!! I will look at other options as well, like walking. I was out this weekend and it was great just to get some air into my lungs. Anything else? One thing i will look at is taking part in some sports. Football would be beyond me just now, but is a future option, but maybe badminton or squash. Lets see.