Be Excellent To Each Other

Two days ago I had my first session with a personal trainer. He showed me new exercises and how to get the most out of my existing equipment.

Today there are still bits of me that I didn't know I had that are protesting significantly.

Finally got round to setting up a bit of a gym in the garage last weekend. We'd been using the garage as an overflow for the shed and loft while we do the work on our house so it needed a good amount of clearing.

I bought a 100kg weight set, with 7' Olympic bar and flat bench to add to our home-made power rack that hadn't even been used until now. I've since ordered some smaller weights for less frightening increases, seeing as I can barely lift an empty bar over my head at the moment so going from 20kg to 30kg isn't going to happen. I also got some mats for the floor to make it more comfortable, as I lift without shoes on.

All in all I'm really happy with it and it cost half what 1 years gym membership does. I only used the gym for weights really so it seemed sensible to have our own, with my own choice of music and all only 5 steps from the house. So far I'm working out in the evening instead of getting up a 5am to go before work so it's even better!

I am SUPER jealous flis!

I'd love a weight bench and squat rack but as I currently have my barbell / dumbbells littering up the front room, and when Gaz moves in space is going to be even tighter, I am not going to have anywhere to put them. I was lying in bed this morning thinking about how practical it would be to rip everything out of my current "utility" (dodgy brick outhouse) and turn that into a little mini home gym - which is basically exactly what you've done. Perfect timing, I am inspired....

Do it! It'll be so worth it, you get your own little place away from everyone!

9.5 weeks until I'm doing the London Triathlon, and I have yet to learn to ride a bike properly...

This is going to be ALL sorts of fun!! (read: probably quite bloody dangerous)

HMMMMM :-\

That will be a challenge then, tjhe bike is the biggest part

Well aware!!

I can stay on it, and go straight. I just can't turn or go near people / cars / any moving objects without freaking out and falling off - not even slightly problematic! nooooo

Seriously, why didn't I do this when I was 3?!

If you look at it, you will hit it. Left foot up, right foot down, right foot up, left foot down. Breathe. Observe The Rules but you are already in violation I belive.

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/
ah, rule 42.

"If it’s preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run, it is not called a bike race, it is called duathlon or a triathlon."

I am calling it a triathlon! No violation in place...

I love that page, that's awesome I'm doing well on the rules too!

(good job they don't have one that states you actually have to know how to ride the bloody bike)

Amazing. When I was in Singapore a couple of months ago, my friend took me to a little island and hired us some bikes - I was /terrified/. After about 10 minutes of fumbling and stumbling about on the thing she said to me "Stop looking where you are, start looking where you want to be"

Sorted me out almost instantly. Most excellent advice!

Do you think you may have choosen the wrong sport??

There's nothing wrong with a good challenge!

(until I die in a crush of 500 cyclists, that is)

20 mile walk on the 20th as a warm up for the 3 Yorkshire Peaks. In the interim, due to a lack of any form of exercise, I will have to start running again. Balls.

Cool. Only a few weeks.

Are you not keen on running? I flipping hate it, but shall have to get my butt into gear and learn to love it within the next 8 weeks!! How far is the 3 peaks?

Oh oh oh, managed my first bike ride on the road bike yesterday! Managed to avoid numerous obstacles, mostly small children as incapable of riding their bikes as I am. Also wore the new tri suit to do it - fact: Lycra is both incredibly comfortable and incredibly unflattering and unforgiving. EW.

25 miles, 5250 feet of climbing. We are aiming for about 10 hours of walking.

I find running dull.

Wow, 10 hours with climbing is hardcore!! Have you done it before?

Likewise - so immensely dull. Training wise I have to do it at the gym so I can at least watch TV while I do it, going outside I can't focus on anything but ow and bored!

Not done it before. I expect I am going to really suffer on it. Which is a point, I need new boots.




I only do 5k and that is split into 2 ups and 2 downs so I look at it like that. I don't wear earphones so nothing to keep me entertained bur my thoughts.

Wear shorts over your tri suit. I do with my sorts when on my mountain bike.

Where did you get your tri suit from?

Cycle surgery - the had the top ladies one on sale at £75, it's £65 to hire one do that was a done deal!!

Just checking my stats on Garmin & Strava
Last year I did 143 miles running...
This year I am up to 212 miles already.


For the first time I can remember, I have gone from an XL to a large in T-shirts

I made that transition at some point last year. Downside: loads of cool t-shirts that now look like sacks on me.

I have to buy more

I am now 15 Stone 13... First time under 16 I can remember.

Did my first fell run last night, my legs are killing me

Excellent, fell running looks fucking horrible, I don't even like running against a stiff breeze.

Nice work! You nutcase!

Cheers... the views were amazing up there..

After buying an MS band I've found its motivated me to do a minimum 10,000 steps a day. I make sure my lunch hour is spent walking. The calorie burn is as good as a 5K run (according to Band information) and it takes the pressure off trying to run when I get home. I generally find that I get home and my son is so happy to see me that my time is taken up with him until his bed time @7.30ish so after this I can't get the motivation together to run.

On top of this I linked the band to another app called My Fitness Pal. This has let me set up a weight loss goal and tells me what calories I should consume, I then enter the food I eat each day into a diary and it adds the steps\runs from the band and tells me what I'm doing.

I was surprised to see the calories in fruit which even when on a diet I used to treat as calorie free! Also booze was a shock as well. I've cut my drinking down so that I'm not hungover on a weekend and can do stuff with my son, even though I will have 4 large beers on a weekend night which is 1200 calories plus some crisps.

Overall a real eye opener and I'm finding the whole thing really useful with diet\exercise

I have stopped looking at calories, just eating healthily, my weight is coming off steadily. I have seen a sports nutritionist about fuel properly. What has surprised me is that I need over 3000 calories a day, more when i run lots.

It is tricky balancing my diabetes and fuel, but it seems to working. My diabetes is under control, might see about coming off my meds at my next review.

My new sports watch is awesome, does a lot more than my last, and has a manual of 155+ pages

I do know the delete and save are the opposite way round

I'm using at calories really to help with healthy eating what I like about the fitness app is that even if you eat within the calorie count it will warn you that you are consuming sugar, sodium etc over you daily allowance.

Last night I had some Brie which was well in calories but I blew my fat allowance for the day:)

I like this over diets like slimming world that say "its a red day eat as much steak as you want"!

I gave up on tracking calories after about 2 weeks, it's so fucking monotonous and my weight didn't change at all.

I eat what I fancy and if I have a day where I overdo it I try and balance it out the day after. I focus mostly on protein to support my lifting, good fats and veg. Consume very little fruit because of the sugar content and drink mostly water and black coffee (and vodka).

My weight is the most stable it's been in years so I think I'm doing OK.

I'm down about 10 pounds since the start of the year which is fine - it's my usual pattern of eating and drinking too much over winter, and not doing enough exercise when I can't cycle easily. As long as I keep off the snacks and carry on cycling to work a couple of days a week I'll be heading in the right direction, then this year I'm going to join a gym once the clocks change and I'm in the car every day.

Got rid of 6 pounds since Monday!

Had this happen before when I've done Slimming World diets, just bloat and water I guess

Still a good start

Awesome start.

My latest idea is I'm going to set up my rowing machine in the garage and then re-watch all of Breaking Bad, while rowing, perhaps at the rate of half an hour a day or so. According to my gym bunny colleague a rowing machine is very good all round exercise. Going to get out running again too.

I'm finding that if you can get out for an hour of walking at lunchtime plus keeping a sensible moderate diet that that is working. I'm eating normally but weighing the odd thing mostly to enter into my food diary.

Running is a bonus which I like to do but not necessary all the time for calories in fact in can be a bit much, I did 21,000 steps yesterday including a 5K run and found myself wanting more too eat last night.

Weekend will be a challenge as I find it easy to keep of crap food and beer within the routine of work but always find myself thinking I deserve a beer after a long week at work etc

I don't particularly struggle with weight, I've been 70 kilos plus or minus 2 kilos for twenty odd years. I just prefer it when I'm feeling fitter and walking by itself doesn't really do it for me, I do walk each day at lunchtime as well but unless I do something that gets my heart rate right up then I feel as though I've not done anything.

Aye, that was my biggest lesson from the months I spent tracking my calorie intake recently. During the week I run a relatively large calorie deficit but as soon as I go to the pub of a weekend that's it all blown to shit and is probably the reason why my weight loss has frustratingly plateaued. I'm cutting my drinking down anyway because these days, especially with the CFS, a hangover just kills me with fatigue but hopefully cutting out that massive calorie spike--plus the extra activity I'll hopefully be able to do of a weekend due to not being hungover--will bring some differences.

I can't get rid of my big fat belly (mainly because I eat a lot of shit, probably), and I don't seem to be any fitter in terms of running at the moment.

I am, however, noticeably stronger. So at least that's something from the agony my MMA trainer puts me through.

That is good

My body seems to just ache all the time

..........................................

Got on the scales yesterday, a day before my weekly weigh in and had lost 8lbs

We had a load of people round yesterday and I had a burger and a couple of ciders, all within the calorie count but I feel a bit bloated this morning

Well done

(not on the burger and beer)

Hook it up to a generator that powers the TV (like the battery charger in series 2!) and you'll have to row!

Against the run of tradition, I went on a bike ride. I took RED BIKE out because it is a MOUNTAIN BIKE and has lower gears to CONQUER ESCARPMENTS and stuff. 18 long miles I toiled around the old pack horse trails and saw some people. I thought I saw a zebra at one stage, but as I got closer, it was a horse wearing a fancy coat, so that was a massive disappointment 'nall.


This bit was really, really nice. And i liked it very much indeed.

This is Altar Lane. It is a big hill. It is steep at the beginning, then flattens a little bit, then steepens, then steepens some more and then just relents a little. I was using a 22x32 and that wasn't enough. At all. Still, as a marker for progress, it'll be good. Onwards and upwards and not only halfway when you stop because you think you are going to faint. Rule 5 and all that. Just checked, that was my worst ever time up the hill.

Lost 11lbs in 2 weeks, running once or twice a week and also getting 13000-20000 steps a day in

Trying to aim for 20000 a day now

Keeping a diary of what I eat and most days with the exercise have a 1000 calories over.

Consuming less booze and fruit but not going diet mad, had drinks at home at the weekend and went to Loch Fyne last night and had chips!

Think I will see less dramatic results from weight loss this week as this will settle down, also have a big night out in London to navigate with my brother this Friday

That is really good.. well done.