Welcome to 2012

Greetings and salutations, and happy 2012! 2011 was a disastrous year for me in many respects, and I'm not sorry to see the back of it. Having said that, I learned an awful lot last year. I would certainly not want to live that 12 months again, but I think I am a better person for having lived it.

But now, here we are, in 2012. And it's time to take this blog back to what it was originally about - fitness and weight loss. The reason it hasn't been about that for a while, a long while, is pretty simple. I have been neither fit, nor losing weight. Today is the first day of turning that trend around. A good friend and I have decided that 2012 is the year of "Operation Fit Body", the year to get ourselves fit and healthy. We had to start on 2nd January though, we were too hung over on 1st January after all :-)

I have also joined a Facebook group started by one of my old online buddies from when I lost weight successfully 4 or so years ago. It's called 20SIZE12, and is focused around shrinking to a size 12 in 2012. Cool, huh? The group is in fact full of old Calorie King people from when I was a regular. None of us have been using that site for some time, and sadly there are a lot of us who have regained a lot of weight. But we are an enthusiastic group and I feel motivated and excited about taking on this challenge with this crowd again. It has been a very long time since I could say I felt motivated and excited about losing weight - it's a good feeling.

My plan for executing OFB (operation fit body) is as follows:

• Track calories. It sucks, but it works. I'm not completely sold on whether I'm going to use Calorie King or My Fitness Pal. I'm kinda using both at the moment. I'll see which one suits best and go with that.
• Running. I haven't run consistently for a good while, and I'm finally at the point where I miss it. I need to finalise a schedule, but I'm looking at doing a few races in July, August and September - a 15km, half marathon and 12km race respectively. I'll ponder this a bit more and lock in a schedule when it's a bit closer.
• Gym. I want to get back into a regular weights/resistance programme, because I have a sneaking suspicion my muscle mass is going to hell. I actually really like weight training, so this should be the easiest part of the plan.

My starting point as of this morning is 90.9kg. I was surprised it wasn't a bit higher - I seem to remember being thinner than this at 91kg. Hence the thought that my muscle mass is not what it should be, I think I have an extra layer of fat. Ew. This makes the weight loss goal an easy one though... I want to lose 20kg. I have been lighter than that, I got down to around 66kg at one stage, but I looked gaunt and sickly, and it was completely impossible to maintain... I was starving every waking minute of the day. Low 70's, while not in the stupid BMI healthy range, is what I think is right for me.

So here we go. Here's to a happier, healthier year in 2012. One in which OFB sees me drop 20kg, wear a size 12, and hit some big fitness goals. Watch this space!

Deep and meaningful

It's time to get all deep and meaningful for a Friday lunch time.

I'm lacking a real sense of direction and set of distinct goals at the moment, and I feel like I'm drifting in a pool of "maybe's". I know for sure that I want to lose weight and get fit. Everything else is in maybe-town.

Maybe I'd like to get into running, run a 10km fun run, run the city-bay next year, run a half marathon next year.

Maybe I'd like to get into triathlons.

Maybe I'd like to get into distance cycling.

Maybe I'd like to fly to the moon.

The trouble with all of these options is that they require planning and dedication and commitment. By flitting about trying to do a bit of everything, I'm not going to be able to give it what it takes.

I've also just been reading some blogs of other people who have defined goals in distance running and triathlon, and I realise just how unprepared I am to take up that challenge myself at the moment.

I know how to eat to lose weight, and I know how to train to get generically "fit" - I've done that before. But I have absolutely no idea how to eat and train specifically for performance in a particular field. I will need help with that, and help costs money. I will be prepared to pay for it, but not until I'm completely convinced that I've chosen a direction and I'm working towards a defined goal.

And so my conclusion is thus... this journey is going to be a staged process. Stage 1 is to lose a pile of weight, with no specific endurance training goal in mind. Whatever my chosen path, I'm going to need to be a whole lot lighter and a whole lot fitter than I am right now.

I don't care so much about my weight as a number - I don't currently know how much I weigh, and frankly I don't want to know. The scales make me crazy and obsessive and often self destructive. I want to be a fit and toned size 12 again. I got down to a 10 a couple of years ago, but I looked awful, drawn in the face and the bones of my chest visible (despite still having a pot belly and chunky thighs, grr).

I'm going to get lighter and fitter by trying a bit of everything. I will do cardio and weights side by side, and make sure I don't lose muscle along with the flab. I'm not sticking just to running for cardio - I'm going to do step classes, and boxing classes, and I might try to get into a routine of cycling to work once a week again too. On the weights side of things, I'll mix up the classes and try some body bar, some circuits, and whatever else floats my boat.

This won't be a rapid process, it never is. By the time I'm a lighter, fitter version of my current self, chances are that I will have a better idea about what type of exercise I'd like to focus on next.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a plan. I feel better now :)