How about that then...

City 2 Surf is on August 9th. That's about 11 weeks away. Last year I used the training planner from their website to prepare. The planner started 10 weeks out, but I only picked it up 8 weeks out, and went from there. However, I had been using my recently acquired Wii Fit since my birthday, so about 5 or 6 weeks...

This year I intend on doing the full 10 week programme, and had intended to get back into the Wii Fit, but that hasn't happened yet. City 2 Surf training is supposed to start in about a week, so figured I should dust off the Wii Fit and see how I'm going.

It turns out that I have actually lost weight since I last used it months and months and months ago, and I am currently sitting on a nice even 110kg! An easy benchmark to start from, so we'll see how it goes this year. I am actually considering modifying my diet this time (OMG!) but I'm not about to make any rash decisions.

I've also managed to convince my sister to join me, and my brother HAD said he would do it, but he has been strangely silent on the matter of late.

[EDIT] I just read my blog entry from 1st January. What a laugh! I went for a jog that day, broke myself, and haven't been jogging or used the Wii Fit since! I really need a financial/event commitment to get motivated.

A new day

Before we go ahead and do a year-in-reflection type thingy, I just need to write this down:
109.7kg.

Adequate, not outstanding, but probably 10kg less than this time last year (and I think about 8kg from my birthday). So I'm happy I have not gone back up to what I was, and particularly as the only real exercise I have been doing is riding to work 3 days a week, but it is time to put some focus back into fitness. Beth will be walking soon, and I will need to be able to keep up!

So starting today, the Wii Fit is coming back out, and I am going to aim to go jogging 3 times a week. Add in the cycle commuting, and that should help me somewhat. Lets see how long it takes to dip below 100kg...

Wii Fit week 9 - worst week EVA!

I did so little Wii during this week it barley even warrants a mention. I think it was like 30min on Monday and Tuesday... and that's it! I also missed a couple of jogs. Very bad week. I think I will cut back a bit on the Wii as my jogging is (theoretically) increasing coming in to the City 2 Surf.

The good news is I have since gotten the jogging back on track.

Anyway, I failed to do a weigh in on Sunday, but I'll use the results from Tuesday (didn't do a work out, just a body test!)

BMI: 35.59 (down 0.73)
Weight: 111.5kg (down 1kg)
Weight loss to date: 5.2kg

So, even though I have done very little exercise, and we had some fantastic food at Alex and Michelle's wedding, I still lost weight! Gotta be happy with that...

My task now is to stay focused on the jogging, and aim for 3 days of Wii per week. I'll modify the routines and make it more of a mixed bag.

Wii Fit Week 7 and Week 8

*sigh*

What can I say... not a great couple of weeks. I will start with the good news though.


June was awesome. I am very happy with the volume of training I did during June - only missing 1 day when I should have done Wii Fit. If I can maintain this kind of consistency I will be very happy.

The results of the last 2 weeks, however, were not so great. During week 7, I went out and had a "few" beers with Benski. See the result:
23/6 33 min
24/6 44 min
25/6 -
26/6 36 min
27/6 34 min
28/6 35 min
29/6 32 min

BMI: 36.32 (up .9)
Weight: 113.8kg (up .6kg)
Weight loss to date: 2.9kg

30/6 33 min
1/7 10 min
2/7 -
3/7 -
4/7 37 min
5/7 37 min
6/7 33 min

BMI: 36.32 (down .42)
Weight: 112.5kg (down 1.3kg)
Weight loss to date: 4.2kg

Week 7 also had the most variance is weight - generally it is a slow trend down, but it was spiking all over the place. During week 8 I slacked off a bit. I was kind of feeling a bit run down, and may have been over doing the jogging during week 7. I rode the new cargo bike (blog entry of its own to come!) from Mum and Dad's place into Cooks Hill on the Sunday, which was a bit of a strain, and then did an hour long easy jog on Monday. After this my hamstring was fairly sore, and caused most of the right side of my body to be "out". I have mostly recovered from this, and the 60min jog on Sunday was not too bad at all. I think I am going to have to step up the massages and chiro appointments. Damn jogging. I'll be glad when this bloody event is over.

Apart from this small setback, the jogging has been going fairly well. 5 weeks to go until the Ciy 2 Surf... While I have always been confident of making it to the end (hell, I could walk it in about 2 hours), I would like to jog as much as possible, and maybe make it in under 90 minutes. I have not been doing any hills yet, so that might be a bit of a shock to the system. The next couple of weeks will be a challenge, as we have some events to attend in Sydney on the weekends.

Wii Fit week 6

Wow, what a week.
16/6 50 min
17/6 44 min
18/6 -
19/6 -
20/6 44 min
21/6 37 min
22/6 44 min (winter solstice - yay! days getting longer!)

So, Thursday night things were a bit crazy when I got home from work. Beth had been a terror for 2 days, Loz was hanging by a thread! I took her out for a walk in the sling for about an hour to give Loz some breathing space, and to get Beth a little sleep at least.

However, even though I missed a day on the Wii, I am still happy with the results:

BMI: 36.13 (down .45)
Weight: 113.2kg (down 1.4kg)
Weight loss to date: 3.5kg

3.5kg in 6 weeks... eh, not bad, but I am happy with how my body is holding up to the Wii, and the simple fact that I am actually sticking with it.

All this "fitness" is going to my head, and I may have done something silly... I signed up for the City2Surf. Their website has a 10 week training programme. Unfortunately, I had the brilliant idea in the middle of week 3. I did my first decent real world jog on Wednesday night in Sydney - 30 minutes around Bicentennial Park, maybe 4km. It hurt. But not as much as the day after! Thursday morning I had every intention of following it up with an "easy" jog in LCNP, but was feeling a little under the weather, so only managed about 10min. Friday morning I took Beth out in the jogging stroller for 30 minutes (who'd a thought one-handed jogging was difficult?!?!) Sunday is the day for the long jog though - I went out to the end of the breakwater and back home. ~55min (including 2 bubbler stops), ~7.5km...

So, there is hope that I will make the 14km in under 2 hours. If I manage to jog (if you can call what I do "jogging") all the way, I will be very happy. This coming week I will add some hills in the mix, just 'cause it doesn't hurt enough already!

5 weeks down

Interesting week this one...

09/6 53 min
10/6 67 min
11/6 - (Sydney)
12/6 43 min
13/6 43 min
14/6 44 min
15/6 65 min

BMI: 36.58 (up 0.1)
Weight: 114.6kg (up 0.3kg)
Weight loss to date: 2.1kg

I didn't go out on Wednesday, so no excessive eating or drinking... and yet I put on a little bit of weight. To give a sneak peak of week 6, it is saying I have dropped over a kilo today, so it could just be a time of day thing... I haven't been particularly strict about when I have been using the Wii - more dependent on Beth's schedule than anything else. I think I will have to do my Sunday weigh-in at the same time each week to make this a bit more valid. It will be interesting to see what the results are this week. It's funny - the weight is coming off slowly (which I am told is a good thing), but it is enough to give me the positive feedback I need to continue being motivated. My belt buckle does up a bit tighter, I'm feeling better, and allegedly my body shape has been changing slightly. I still have not made major modifications to my diet (lets not talk about the chocolate brownies I just made!), so there is definitely room for improvement there.

I'm looking at changing my aerobic component a bit - and doing some more jogging in the Real World. Looking out the window right now, this may be a flawed plan - it has been raining off and on for days with a cutting wind. The Wii has really come into it's own :) Even when it is miserable outside, it doesn't give you an excuse not to use the Wii...

Loz has been a bit more regular using Wii Fit as well - her goal is to do at least 20min each day, and I think she is managing 30min most days. She is also kicking my arse at pretty much everything (except pushups - I ownz the 10 reps pushups!). Apparently her balance is way better than mine, not to mention her timing on the Step game. I've actually threatened to delete her Mii character if she continues to knock me off the score board - there's only so many times you can tolerate your "Best Score" not actually appearing at all.

Wii Fit week 4...

Just a short, quick entry, or I'll never get it done!

Here's how the week went:
2/6 54 min
3/6 65 min
4/6 Sydney...
5/6 51 min
6/6 58 min
7/6 53 min
8/6 67 min

And the numbers:
BMI: 36.48 (down .32)
Weight: 114.3kg (down 1kg)
Weight loss to date: 2.4kg


I'm very happy with how much I was able to do this week - particularly getting a session in on Thursday night when I got back from Sydney. I may not be able to do it every week, but I'll aim to do something at least. Also, doing a workout on the Friday definitely gave me more energy.

I guess I am losing weight steadily, but I think I would like it to be a bit faster. That will take a commitment to changing my diet, and I'm not about to kid myself that it will be easy. I really like my food! I've improved my snacking habits, and am eating more fruit, so that is a start... (cutting back on the sourdough may be a challenge.)

Anyway, 4 weeks on an exercise programme is the best I've done, each week I am seeing progress, and I am definitely feeling better for doing the exercise. Besides the Wii, I am taking Beth for a 40min+ walk when I am home, trying to get a ride or two in each week, and we do pretty much all of our local trips on foot, which all helps.

Week 3 report

*sigh*

Once again this week I was slightly over-indulgent while in Sydney. It's funny - I don't have heaps of time to catch up with friends (ok, fair enough - more than Lauren...), so each week in Sydney I am trying to catch up with different people, and that inevidibly means going out to dinner somewhere. This week it was going to dinner with Spoonboy and Robert. It was a very nice dinner - a newish woodfire pizza place in North Strathfield. Apparently the owner is quite the wine fanatic, and the selection shows it (like I'd know...) In any case, a few pizzas and a bottle of wine later, I was feeling pretty happy! (apart from fearing what the Wii would say - it gets quite sassy at times!)

Here's the breakdown:
26/5 49 min
27/5 30 min
28/5 - Sydney
29/5 - Sydney
30/5 - lazy!
31/5 60 min
01/6 78 min


As you can see, Friday was not great. I was feeling pretty wasted after work (I think it is the drive more than anything), Beth has not been sleeping great, and the chiro appointment took out the morning. Yes, these are just excuses, and I should have worked out on the Wii, I guilted myself into doing extra on the Saturday and Sunday.

The result:
BMI: 36.80 (+.4 over last week)
Weight: 115.3kg (-.2kg over last week)
Weight loss to date: 1.4kg

This week I was trying out something different. Previously, I have been trying to get up ~30 min of mainly aerobic exercise - with a focus on fat loss. I wanted to diversify a bit more, so started playing around with the strength and yoga routines. On Saturday and Sunday I basically went through all routines available, and have now worked out a modified programme. I am still taking Beth for a ~1hr walk each morning (when I am home), so that actually caters a fair bit for the aerobic activity. I am now going to focus the Wii on strength and yoga exercises, and if I need to cut back at all, it will come out of the aerobic stuff. For aerobic, I have a fairly well established set of Boxing, Step, Hula Hoop, and Jogging - which gives me a nice 30 minutes.

I had expected that the Internet would provide me with some detailed exercise routines, but alas it was not to be. Despite the number of blogs proclaiming WiiFit as the new messiah, nobody is detailing their routines. After going through all of the Strength and Yoga exercises (and matching up the recommended pairs) I categorised each by the primary body part they focus on:

Arms
Yoga	Strength
Downward facing dog	Press up
Shoulder stand	Arm + leg lift
Palm tree	Tricep extension
Legs
Sun Salutation	Sideways leg lift
Warrior	Lunge
Chair	Rowing Squat
Standing Knee	Single leg extension
King of the dance (?!)
Half moon	Single leg twist
Trunk/abs
Tree	Single arm stand
Bridge	Jackknife
Crocodile twist
Cobra	Parallel Stretch
Triangle	Torso & waist twist

So, my aim is to do Arms + Legs one day, trunk/abs the next. I'll pad out with Aerobic exercises on the trunk/abs day if required. I feel the balance routines are more like games (and I do enjoy playing them!) so I'll just pad with them if and when required, or use them for R&R!

I'll start with the trunk/abs tomorrow...

Week 2 report...

Shut up! I know this is late!!! The important thing is that I actually DID exercise - not that I was really late in writing about it! Anyway, here's what happened...

Bit of a funny week this one - I spent 3 days instead of 2 in Sydney, so that threw the schedule out a bit. I had every intention of going for a walk/jog in Bicentennial park on the Wednesday evening, but instead it hailed and we had a shitload of rain. I was really bummed about it. I also had a *big* night out with some work friends, and followed up with a *bigger* lunch (albeit minus the alkymahol) on the Friday.

19/5 43 min
20/5 31 min
21/5 - Sydney
22/5 - Sydney
23/5 - Sydney
24/5 55 min
25/5 41 min

And the moment of shame:
BMI: 36.74 (-.06 over last week)
Weight: 115.5kg (+0.5 over last week)
Weight loss to date: 1.2kg

So, not great, but knowing how much I ate and drank in Sydney, I'm not surprised. Even though I am not going to go nuts about altering my diet, just monitoring my weight weekly helps to stay aware of the influence of my daily food intake. I know I think more about what I am eating now - I might not be going for a salad, but I am certainly not upsizing! Lets see how it goes next week... (you wont have to wait long, I'm about to type it up aswell!)

It's ALIVE!!!

Ok, so maybe its been a while since we last did some blogging, but we've got a good excuse! Moving country, finding work, finding a home, having a baby... these things take up a lot of time. I am willing to admit 6 months is a LONG time though ;)

Anyway, my reason for starting up this blogging again is largely selfish - I just need a place to write some stuff down. Specifically, to keep a log of exercise. I turned 32 last Monday (12th) and Loz and Beth gave me a Wii and Wii Fit (not sure exactly how much Beth contributed there, but I am grateful none the less!)

So, to commence the Blog of Shame, here are my vital stats as of 12/5/2008:
BMI: 34.1
Weight: 116.7kg

There are other stats in there, but they appear largely useless...

Here's how it will work... I only set up the Wii late on the Monday, so started training on the Tuesday. At the end of each week I'll have a weigh in, and see how it goes!

Now, here are the weeks stats:
12/5 4 min
13/5 62 min
14/5 - (Sydney)
15/5 - (Sydney)
16/5 37 min
17/5 52 min
18/5 64 min

And now the vital stats:
BMI: 36.80
Weight: 115.3kg
Weight loss to date: 1.4kg

The Wii also allows you to log other exercises (walking, cycling, - even things like cooking! I guess anything that has you on your feet and active...) I will be logging walking and cycling activities in there, but wont bother posting them here.


Hopefully I will be able to keep this up (both the exercise, and the Blog!!!)

I also still have a bunch of photos to upload, so I'll see if I can get that sorted this week too.

'Till next time...