10lbs and Counting!

Hi all,
Sorry for the lack of posts but I'm back at work having used up all my annual leave. Things are bloody hectic there at the moment as I'm covering 3 other peoples jobs as well as my own while they all go sun themselves.

So I weighed myself earlier in the week and discovered that I can now weigh myself on the home scales! I'd lost 7lbs then and was well chuffed. I had a crap and decided to weigh myself again this morning to find that I'd lost another 3lbs bringing the total to 10lbs! Of course I didn't weigh myself at the start of my training so I have no clue what I started at but 3 weeks ago I was 24 stone and counting! so 10lbs in 3 weeks, maybe a bit excessive as 2lbs is the recommended maximum and I'm more like 3 currently.

So let's talk about that for a minute. I have had some highs and lows and I realise I've a long way to go. I've read a lot about this now and am applying anything that I agree with or at least trying it out. I'm definitely under eating but am not feeling weak or tired, just the opposite in fact. I am however making sure to get nutrients and the correct type of food each day and this is probably the reason why I am losing weight more rapidly and not feeling the ill effects. Here is what I generally have per day:

Breakfast
I take a multivitamin ABC, Holland & Barret.
An Omega 3 softgel from H&B.
CLA softgel.
I have a Diet Whey protein shake from PHD or TheProteinWorks (2 scoops + 350ml skimmed milk)
250ml water bottle of Super Greens (3 scoops) from TheProteinWorks (Pommegranite & Cranberry) for breakfast.

Lunch
Chicken, tuna or Goats Cheese with a chilli salad
CLA softgel
Diet Whey Protein bar / oat&whey crisp, currently looking into the cookies and flapjacks :)

Dinner
Whatever is cooked that evening :) but am learning to portion myself better.

So, you could say I'm on a protein rich diet and that is by design. I've found my body doesn't respond too well to lots of carbs. I get stuffed up, feel uneasy and to be honest I just plain prefer non carb foods!

I always make sure to drink water throughout the day usually going through three or four 750ml bottles.

So what has really stepped up the fitness?

Heart Rate Monitor
My Polar FT7 is one of the better things I've bought since starting this fitness/improved diet regime. I would go as far to say that a heart rate monitor (HRM) is the first thing someone should buy. Cheaper models won't let you upload the data to Polarpersonaltrainer.com and more expensive models will do a lot more than the FT7 does. So for about £100 (with the flowlink interface) the FT7 is a good purchase. I'll probably get a more advanced one later in my training once I care about distance and speed more, for now the smartphone applications and a little manual input is fine.

Running
I tried running a few times in the past, I have a pair of Nike+ Pegasus 26 Bowerman trainers that were new so that shows their age (I think Pegasus 30 is the current model!) However It's always taken it's toll on me and I seemed to get injured or just plain sick or infected when running! yes infection! Not absolutely sure why but abscesses or boils formed (I have some history with these nasty things!) and were a nightmare as you can imagine. It was probably due to being literally "run down" and my immune system wasn't cranked up. That and a pussy right knee and ankle held me back and put me off.

So what's changed? Trail running! This is the way forward for me I feel. I've been doing it all week and actually feel a lot healthier for it for a change. All it means really is running off road, find some grass, a bit of woodland, hills and dales if you've got 'em! I have a nearby field that I do laps of and also a little wood area that I do laps of right near my house. I also have a larger wood called Scratchwoods very close by and have run around that once so far. For the larger person it's much friendlier on the knees but also makes you work harder so good for your fitness. You will definitely feel knackered more quickly but just remember to go at a slow pace and for as long as you can manage. With a HRM you know when you should be easing off or keep going (mines currently when I go over 165bpm) After that I am probably doing myself more harm than good!

I still have a little problem with my right knee but it's usually ok after a bit of mobility work and rest. The ankle is still giving me gyp each run towards the end but I think this has a lot to do with technique and I can run through it once I correct my foot placement. It's a learning curve and not the hindrance that it was.

I'm keeping track of my progress with the Nike+ application for Android and Polarpersonaltrainer.com. I have to input the pace and distance info manually into the Polar site but once that's done I can see my progress. I'm already seeing an improvement in effort over just this week. I started at 200 calories burned per session and am down to 190 calories per session. Meaning I'm not using less effort to do the same work so I'm getting fitter :)

Diet
I talked about this earlier but it's worth mentioning that I use MyFitnessPal to track my calories and now I can use it for exercise and I use my HRM data for that. I am always under my goal calories of about 2300 and usually a fair bit, say between 500-800 under which is why I've been shifting about 3lbs a week.

I eat a lot healthier than I used to. Plus I try to include metabolism boosters. These include caffeine, fresh coffee every now and then I'm more addicted to water these days! Chilli, the capsicum in it literally fires up your engine. Green tea and extracts, these are in my diet protein products and I also have a CLA tablet with the extract, and of course the odd cup of green tea! Super Greens, one of these is a concentrated hit of green veg (5 a day in one hit) so that builds up the immune system and assists digestion, etc... all round good stuff. There are probably other things too but the multivitamin takes care of other essentials.

Judging by MyFitnessPal I generally have twice as much protein as recommended, always over on vitamins, low on carbohydrate intake and recommended fat intake, sometimes over but I always try to have good fats which the body needs.

So I think that's enough from my for today, I'm well chuffed with myself and having a well deserved rest for a couple of days then back to it! Good luck to anyone reading this in a similar situation, please leave a comment if you want to get in touch.