Feeling Fuzzy Already...

It's just gone 3:30pm and already I'm feeling the lack of calories...

So, feeling tired, a touch dizzy and seem to be suffering from a lack of concentration.

I am combatting this by watching fat loss programs on the BBC iPlayer and avoiding work at all costs. :-)

Just for the record, I'm drinking around a litre of water per hour.

This'll pass and I expect to feel much better by Sunday.

This is very typical of Very Low Calorie Diets and I was expecting it.  I'm also expecting a headache soon enough. Simple Paracetamol will sort that when it happens.

First Exante Soup!

So, vegetable soup!  For a start, it's very thick and creamy. Much more so than the CD foodpacks.  this means 200ml as reocmmended isn't enough.  That's a bonus as it means bigger meals, yay!

Taste wise, I'm very happy to report that the vegetable soup is actually pretty nice, so that's a winner then.

Dinner tonight is a risky choice, Thai Chicken.

I'll let you know ;-)

Exante Bar for Breakfast

OK - a boring post, but I tried my first Exante product for brekkie this morning.

I had the purple bar - no idea what flavour it was as I was bleary eyed and not with it at the time.  Probably something like Toffee and Raisin.

It looks like a tracker bar, all nutty and whatnot.  So at first glance it looks good.  It also looks more substantial than the Cambridge Diet bars which are long and thin, this is more of a chunky affair (much like yours truly!).

So, the big question.  Is it edible?  more or less so, actually.

You have to remember these bars are crammed with vitamins, minerals and protein so although they resemble a tracker bar, they have all sorts of slightly synthetic flavours.  I've never been a fan of the bars from CD or Lighter Life, but these seem to taste a bit nicer and I reckon i'll get on just fine with them.

Just don't expect them to taste good and you'll be pleasantly surprised.  This particular flavour is more than acceptable.

Soup for lunch, will report back then!

Exante Delivery!

So, here's what I received by courier,  the very next day after ordering (good start! )

Haven't been to the gym in months...

My buddy Logan and I are slack, it's official.  He's got two kids, I've got one. We both work full time.

There, excuses done.  Back to the gym in two weeks time.  Why the delay?  Well, I figure it will give my body a chance to get used to the being on approx 600cals per day.  Don't want to do myself a mischief now, do I?

Moving on to Exante

Look, I know it's been a while but not to worry eh?

I've just got back from a two week holiday in spain and am about to undo the damage I've done in terms of lbs on the scales and acreage on the belly.

Actually, it's not that bad.  I put on 1/2 a stone on hols.  That's about normal for me on a two-week holiday.  Not great, but at least typical.

So, I hadn't weighed myself in ages.  I'm still in 34" shorts and just barely still in medium T-shirts.  I know I've put weight on since I came off the Cambridge Diet ages ago, I just haven't worried too much about it as my "skinny" clothes still fit.

Now, back from hols, I know that if I want to remain in my smaller clothes, I need to be a bit proactive.

So, I weighed myself before my hols at 14st12lbs.  I'd call the cambridge diet a roaring success and I've managed to keep most of the weight off.

Today, I weigh 15st5lbs.  So this is my new starting point.

I was all set to go back to the lovely Jo, my Cambridge diet lady, but then my Wife asked me to look up Exante on the net.  I had previously considered Exante ages ago (before I went on CD) but ruled it out on the basis that a few bloggers said it wasn't as tasty as the CD foodpacks.

Well, Exante's website offers a 4-week pack with 50% off which worked out massively cheaper than the CD.  So, the plan is to split this with the Wife and we'll both try two weeks on Exante to see if we can live with the packs.

Here's what I look like now, still not bad despite being over a stone heavier than when I came off CD.

 

I've ordered the Exante packs and they should arrive tomorrow. I'll let you know what they're like!

The importance of rest

I have just discovered why having rest days are important. This week, I've been to the gym on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. I had previously  managed to have at least one day off between gym work outs. So going on both Sunday and Monday were out of character. Monday, when compared to Sunday's workout felt weaker. However, take a day off and Wednesday's session was really good. I felt powerful, and actually pushed heavier weights around tonight.

Also, another thing that bears this out is that you do your muscle growing outside of the gym, ie between sessions. This means your rest days are for recovery and growth. I think that 48 hours between sessions might not be enough. You see, inadequate rest and recovery leads to overtraining and in fact either stalling your progress, or even moving backwards.

Once I discover a way of measuring my progress, maybe by weights added per month, i'll switch to a 72 hour gap between sessions to see if either my weights get lower or my growth gets bigger. The ideal situation is a balance between forcing your muscle development an allowing time to recover and grow.

I think that more research is required.

Anyway, weigh in tomorrow, and I've not been 100% good on the diet. Not even close. :-)

Muscle and Fat

So, here's some little facts about muscle and fat:
Muscle is not related to fat. You can't turn fat into muscle, and muscle does not break down into fat.
The phrase "toning up" is bollocks. You're either building muscle or losing fat, or both. What you're talking about is body recomposition.
It is quicker to lose fat than to build muscle (unfortunately).
You can be slim but still be fat. This is called skinny-fat. In effect, small measurements but no muscle mass meaning you still look soft and flabby. This is what most ex-fat dieters become because they haven't exercised in years.
There's approximately 3500 calories in 1lb of fat, so it does take time to come off!
If you want to look emaciated like a marathon runner, then by all means, spend all your gym time on the treadmill. If you want more muscle and a good beach body, then you simply need to throw weights around. This applies to both genders. If you're concerned about cardiovascular fitness, then do some running after your weights session, not before. Don't waste your energy by doing it first. Get those muscles worked first.
If you can put on a few pounds of muscle PER YEAR, then you're doing well.
Getting defined abs is more about losing fat than exercising your stomach muscles, although that will help. Really, to show your abs, you want to get down to single-figure bodyfat percentages.
If you're overweight, don't bulk, just be in a small calorie deficit and train hard. If you're really skinny and have little muscle mass then eat a touch less and train hard. Either way, go hard or go home.
Now, i know I'm only just starting out at the gym, but the same applies to me as it does to you.
I am literally working my arse off. In fact, i'm a little sore today, this is normal if its muscle ache, just need to rest up on my off day today and work through it tomorrow. Do not try to work through an injury though.
Rest up between gym sessions, allow time for repair and growth to maximize your gains. Maybe even attending the gym three times a week might be too much. It may be that twice a week is optimal. I will test that theory out soon enough.
Hope this is useful to some of you!

The Gym

So, a couple of posts ago, i mentioned that i was going to start back down the gym again. I have moved to a new gym that's just opened. Its very cheap and doesn't have such luxuries as a jacuzzi, swimming pool or sauna etc. Probably just as well as none of these actually constitute any form of exercise.

I am working on a full body routine, that consists of the "Big Five" exercises. These are:

1) chest press
2) lat pull-down
3) vertical press
4) leg press
5) horizontal row

Because i am building muscle, i am pushing heavy weights in 3 sets of 8 reps, with minimal rest in between sets.

This is proving enough to stimulate growth and is yielding pretty fast results. Of course, important still enjoying the beginner gains and will have to tweak things in about 6 months time or so. My aim is to add more weight to most of the exercises every week in order to continue muscle development.

I can already see changes in my arms and shoulders.

My aim is to go down the gym three times a week, allowing at least 24 hours between each session for recovery. So far, I have actually gone four times a week, purely because I alternate with the wife so one of us can look after the baby so my routine isn't quite where it should be at the moment. Rest is actually more important than training in terms of muscle growth because the repair and growth only occurs outside of the gym.

New year and the diet continues...

So, we're now into January, and I managed to lose a total of two pounds over the festive period.  I'm pretty happy with that actually because I had a full Christmas dinner, boxing day food, and then had various err cheat days whilst having family and friends over for meals etc.

Now all the festivities are over, i am back on the 810 plan and will continue to lose my last 21lbs.