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I’ve been playing DOOM!

False Starts

Tags

health, London Marathon, running

So, It’s been over a year since I’ve written a blog. I’d like to say that not much has happened, but it’s actually been more eventful that usual. But that’s not what I’m going to talk about today. I could spend the next ten thousand words talking about failing at dieting, loosing my gallbladder and starting to look at houses with my partner.

But I’m going to forgo that rubbish – and tell you about the stupidest thing that I have done recently.

Last year in my quest to loose some fucking weight. Yes, I used the F word. I, once again, put my name into the hat for a place in the London Marathon. Well, I never expected to get a place until that magazine landed in my letter box – gleefully telling me that I’ve been lucky enough to endure months of pain, stress and nagging from my partner “have you started running yet”, all the way up to April 24th, 2016.

So, The Virgin London Marathon 2016 – I’m in – and to prove to myself and everyone who thinks that I’m never going to make it round the grueling 26.2 miles, I’m going to do it.

I just don’t know how.

Actually, I do know how. Running – a lot. And dieting – sort of. (we all know how that’s never really worked for me)

Might as well do it for a good cause

I decided to raise money for UNICEF for 2 reasons, I actually like the work they do, it’s both here and internationally – and with all the shit that’s going on in the world, organisations like UNICEF can use all the help they can get, Also – I’m a Star Wars nut – and “Force for Change” also supports UNICEF.; so go figure. Anyway, according to a lovely guy (I assume he’s lovely) called Luke, I should start blogging about my training to drum up support. So here it is.

It’s not going very well.

I have had so many false starts, I keep finding excuses not to start training – I keep thinking “what’s my problem – I used to LOVE running” – but the truth is I’m scared. I’m scared of the pain, the disappointment and I feel that I don’t have what it takes to get through that pain barrier. But I do – I know I do.. So what’s my problem.

Laziness. Most likely.

So this is day one of my running blog. I trust that the next one will have a little more progress.

 

Being Consistent with Calories

Tags

calorie counting, calories, dieting

One of the reasons that I’ve I championed the Cambridge Diet is that every day you know that you’re getting all the nutrients that you need and that the calorie count is also consistent. Sometimes dieting is easier when you don’t have the annoyance of having to choose what you eat – taking ages in Tesco while you read the backs of packets. With diets such as Slimming World and Weight Watchers, the premise is the same – You’re given an allowance of ‘syns’ or ‘points’, this is either a daily allowance or a weekly allowance – but the point of these diets is that you don’t count calories. Since a calorie is a unit of energy, it’s always been my personal opinion that ensuring a calorie deficit – this is something I’ve banged on about for ages now.

Personally, I describe myself has having an addictive nature when it comes to food. I go through periods when I’m restrained and then reward myself with a calorie binge. For me, these binge times are usually at the weekends – a little treat.. which turns into a.. well, you know the story.

So 7 days ago, I started badly and continued to binge on Saturday and Sunday; the problem with  weekends is that it’s hard to be consistent with calorie intake, especially when you’re not in a routine – so from Monday – Thursday this week, I was really good. I had low calorie ready meals and stuck to coffee in the day. I did get the “half spoon” sugar which adds a super sweet 8 calorie hit to my tea and coffee. I have though been skipping breakfast and lunch most days – I did manage to loose 1lb this week, which I’m not going to turn my nose up at – but I wont pretend like I’m not disappointed in myself.

So, with a 1lb loss, it seems that this week, I’ve only really working at a 3,500 calorie deficit, – I think. Actually, I’m not to sure. I’ve been thinking about the process of calories becoming that horrible wobbly mess that surrounds my mid section and I found this on Livestrong

“Once food is consumed, your body either uses calories as energy to fuel your body, or stores these calories in fat cells to be called upon at a later time. Dr. David Katz, reports in “O, the Oprah Magazine,” that the body begins to store consumed calories as fat within four to eight hours from the beginning of the meal. As you consume these calories, the body automatically stores the first 1,000 calories within the liver and muscles for immediate energy reserves. This calorie storage is known as glycogen. Once the glycogen calories are utilized for energy, the body then activates stored calories within fat cells, known as triglycerides, to replenish the depletion of glycogen calories.”

So I guess one thing to try and ensure a consistent loss while staying in control, is well.. by following the same thing that people have been telling you for ages – and this is the “little and often” Set alarms to ensure that you eat the same time each day – then try and have the same number of calories. eg.

7am – 100 calories

9.30am 200 calories

11am 30 calories

1pm 400-500 calories

3pm 30 calories

6pm 600-800 calories

total calories = 1360 to 1660

Now this is approximate, and it really doesn’t matter how these calories are made up. So instead of having a rice cake at 11am, you can have a piece of toblerone from duty free (just the 1 bit though – put the rest in the fridge!)

My point is that it doesn’t matter how the calories are made up, just know that you’re going be have a lot less if you opt for something fatty than something leafy. I’d like to follow my own advice, but be all know that aint going to happen 🙂