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!

Sunday update

Another week comes and goes. I am currently ensconced on the couch watching bad TV and thinking about being productive. I seem to do a lot of that recently - must get my act into gear.

I don't have a lot to update this week to be honest. Life is sort of cruising along, with no major dramas and no major high points. I have been a little slack on the exercise front, and I am really, really struggling for running motivation. But having said that, yesterday I decided to conquer the Mt Lofty trail. I'm not sure I can say I conquered it, but I did complete it. It's a 3.8km trail and it's damn steep. I finished it in 46:05 on the way up... bossman did it in 41:40 last week, damn him. It gives me something to work towards though. I was actually very close to throwing up about the 3km mark, so I really backed off the pace at that point. I have lots of work to do on my cardio fitness to improve my time - my legs held up well, but the lungs were burning. The legs aren't holding up quite so well today mind you, and my butt is SORE. Suck it up princess. I also ran back down the trail after a quick recovery at the top - 24:50 on the way down. It was surprisingly difficult to run down the really steep sections... but still a whole lot easier than on the way up.

And now the agenda for the week ahead. I want to get to the gym for a couple of pump classes and a Body Attack - I've been enjoying getting back into those. I also want to get at least 2 runs in, I really want to be back in the routine. It's also not as cold as it has been over the last couple of weeks, so my excuses are starting to run out.

As far as non-exercise plans go, my aim is productivity. I've got some crappy annoying jobs on at work that I just need to get done and out of the way. I need to stop procrastinating at home, and get shit done. And that involves getting off this couch right now!

Still struggling along

Life is still struggling along, and I have continued to eat a lot of crap I shouldn't since my last confession. I was doing well for a whole day, until 7pm when I ate half the pantry. Not much worth eating in there now... so I went and bought crap to eat last night. Seriously, do I own a brain???

On to the positives though - I think I'm learning. I did buy (and eat) some stuff last night that was inadvisable at best, insane at worst. But I also stocked up on lots of other stuff that WILL be OK to eat, and hopefully I'll manage not to eat it all at once. I have this ongoing battle of being aware of my own eating frailties, while also being... well, a tight ass. If I don't have food (particularly snack food) pre packaged into individual serves, I am severely predisposed to eating the whole freaking lot. But pre packaged serves cost a lot more. Well, too bad budget - I'm buying the single serves. I can't be trusted to dish up my own serves at the moment.

So last night I bought small serve yoghurts (100g tubs). And muesli bars. And mini boxes of fruit/nut. And mini boxes of sultanas. I also bought some convenience food, which I have a major aversion to, but I'm looking for that moderation switch. I'm not going back to eating lean cuisines and whatever other crap frozen meals I used to inhale, that shit is toxic. But a box of pancake mix, some protein powder with artificial ingredients - this kind of stuff probably isn't going to kill me if used in moderation. It's all about trying something new, because clearly what I've been doing hasn't been the answer.

My second big realisation this week, which is something I have always known but just struggle to put into practice, is that I need a plan to work to. This will work with food too, and I should get myself sorted this weekend for that, but I'm actually referring to the exercise at this point. If I have a plan, or a schedule, or whatever, to work too, I'm pretty good at sticking to it. If I leave it to "whatever I feel like at the time", you can bet your ass I feel like sitting on the couch and eating crap. I had my evening bootcamps last month, and I went to them all (except when they were cancelled for excessive heat). That's over now, and I'm entering a phase of solo training, which could be a danger period. But I think I'm going to be OK, because I have my HM training schedule in place. I didn't feel like getting up and running this morning, but I did it because the schedule said I had to. I'll chalk that up as a win, and hope that it continues!

So far the HM training has been pretty mild (but we are only 3 days in of course!) Monday was 3.5km in the morning, and cross training (step class at the gym) at night. Tuesday was a cross training day - cycling to and from work, about 31km all up. Today is a 3.5km run, and then the night off. Tomorrow is supposed to be a 4km run in the morning (which I'll do), but the strength session at night won't be happening as I'm booked in for a massage - aah bliss. Friday is scheduled as a rest day, so I have to work out whether I add the strength session there, or just let it go for this week. I will report back in due course :-)