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Oh dear. My left foot has been killing me for a couple of weeks. I spraigned my ankle very badly when at school (nearly 20 years ago, but it has never been the same). I think spraigned it again Easter Sunday, when I first walked up the Wrekin (local hill and beauty spot). It wasnt going up that did it, it was coming down.
Anyway, I've been favouring it for a little while and both the top muscles and my tendons and ligaments in my ankle have been hurting ever since. It's been really affecting my ability to do the good old bulgarian split squat for a while. Anyway, I have struggled on for a good 3 weeks, I have been going on full tilt in the gym and studio, but it is hurting so much that enough is enough; I've just got to rest it.
And today, my (ex)wife rang me up to tell me our daughter has been throwing up since she came back from nursery. Proper projectile vomiting!!! I will pick her up first thing and look after her at home for a couple of days as she would be passing whatever she has on to the other kids, and that just isnt fair to them.
With the TT Transformation contest coming up on May 4 it seems sensible to just calm things down for 4 days. I am going to give 100% to that contest. Whether I win it or not, giving it 100% commitment is what matters.
In the meantime, my daughter is all that matters so I will take this opportunity to rest and then JUST DO IT!
I am launching a seperate blog to monitor my progress during the TT Transformation contest. Links will be posted through here and my pages on the social networks that I'm on. Be prepared for the "ugly" photos.
Just been re-reading last Monday's post. It's now 4 weeks since I started on Craig Ballantyne's world reknown Turbulence Training programme. Although I did weigh myself this Monday, I have decided to return back to Wednesday weigh ins as this will remain true and consistent to my previous records.
I'm pleased to say that in 4 weeks I have actually lost 1.8kg (4lb) of body fat (now down to 18kg/40lb of fat) , which represents a 1.3% reduction. My initial goal was to lose 1%. At that time I had not really made any calculations as to how much fat mass I was to lose, and based it on percentages. I made the following video not long after I started the programme.
As I mentioned in my last entry, I've had a big struggle with my alcohol consumption. Whilst I do believe that life is for living, and I have no problem with people responsibly enjoying their tipples of choice, I sometimes feel guilty about my passion for wine, particularly as it is preventing me from achieving what I want in terms of getting a great mid-section! At the moment it really is too hard a task to just eliminate my level of consumption so I have decided to do a much more gradual reduction.
We brew some lovely beer here in the UK and there is one brewery that I am a big fan of, the Badger Brewery based down in Dorset. So my treat is a (as in ONE!) bottle from their range of very fine ales every other night in the week (i.e. Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On Saturday, I will apply the John Berrardi 90% rule and enjoy some wine after going to my back to back classes at the Gym.
Anyway, moving back to the main point of my blog, I have achieved my goal despite enjoying a more than what would we be called normal amount of beer and wine. Whilst I wonder what I could have achived if I had been more disciplined, I will learn from my mistakes, and not get too down on myself as states in the TTFFL manual that advanced exercisers are likely to expect a lb fat loss per week. So I do still feel really pleased and positive that I can get great results. I just have to be more disciplined.
Its not just the fat loss results that are great. I'm really impressed with my improvements in my strength. Before TT I just played with resistance training doing it twice a week at my own pace. Now I am straight in, resting as little as possible between sets and supersets, lifting as heavy weights as possible, bearing in mind that my right shoulder is still compromised from last year and is nowhere near as strong as the left. The results...
I have noticed a dramatic increase in definition of my muscles in my arms, and my main vains are now starting to become noticeable on my arms and...
I am definitely a lot stronger than I was before I started the programme, even in just 4 weeks.
An example of this is the upper body workout track in the body attack class at the gym. There is a lot of core strengthening and a hell of a lot of press-ups both bicep and tricep. I used to manage bicep press-ups with my knees off the floor, but practically all the tricep push-ups were done with my knees down. Today I managed all but 4 knees off the floor. I know I will get to the stage where I no longer have my knees down on either.
Ok so thats the original programme completed my sheet is below.
Its time to move on to the next programme. I have downloaded the Hardcore Fat Loss programme from TTmembers.com. Time to up the ante and the intensity. Monday's workout was a killer, particularly the 30s/30s intervals where I have also started increased the resistance on the cross trainer at the peaks to level 17 of 25. I was knackered.
However, the thing that scared me most was Craig's nutrition plan with 8 meals a day totalling 2,100 kcals. My god!!! I am however taking some steps to move towards Craig's eating plan, and increasing my fruit and (unsalted) nuts intake with whole graprefruits, dried apricots and almonds has made an incredibly surprising impact. Yesterday I worked out til about 9:10am. I had a protein shake, a grapefruit, a banana and then a ricotta and ham fritata with some baby carrots and cherry tomatoes for my lunch at about 12 ish. I didnt actually feel that I needed to eat my evening meal which I took at about 7:15pm, and I had taken another walk up the wrekin as well to burn off my lunch!
It just goes to prove that if you are disciplined you can make those step by step, but critical nutritional changes a part of your lifestyle. If I can so can anyone!
Craig has announced another 12 week transformation contest with entries to be in between 4th and 26th May. Check here to see the links to the last contest winners with their respective stories. I am going to enter, which is the reason why I have not posted any photos after my first 4 weeks. I am not entering to win, although that would really be amazing. My main reason is that it will make me even more accountable to my friends and family whose support I will be needing. Wish me luck!!!
Click here to obtain a FREE 10 minute workout from Turbulence Training. This gives you half a dozen QUICK and SIMPLE fat-melting workouts. It's in PDF format and you can save from there. If you are interested in the full Turbulence Training programme you can follow the links from the PDF or order from Godzilla Marketing Health & Fitness (where you can view other weight and fat reduction programmes as seen below) on the following link by clicking here.
Where do I start? The last 2 weeks haven't been very well disciplined for me. I haven't been following the Turbulence Training plan to the full. In terms of exercise, yes, I've been following the resistance and interval training programs, as well as doing my own thing on off days. However, I haven't cut my alcohol consumption and this has dramatically affected my goals. I actually gained 2 lb of weight this week although my body fat percentage only went up by .2%. So now 78.7kg/173lb with 18.8kg/41lb of body fat.
I've embeded one of Craig's diet vs exercise videos to the blog below. It makes interesting (and amusing) entertainment and I have posted links on my facebook pages. It's a pity I never took much heed of the message it contains as I could have achieved my goals if I had.
Whilst I'm not a big beer drinker (wine is my tipple of choice), I do drink far too much of the booze. I know its been a bank holiday (and a long one at that) but 5 bottles of wine and 3 half litre bottles of 5% beer must equal at least another 5000 calories and no body fat loss!!!
That said, enough is now enough. Its time to write off the last 2 weeks and re-group to start again from scratch. And this time I'm more determined than ever to shake off this horrible fat that I'm carrying.
So, I've taken a few simple but effective measures.
Instead of setting just targets, I've actually thought about how I am going to achieve those goals.
The big problem is the vino. So I've printed my calendar off for the rest of this month and next and have scheduled when I am allowed to take a drink. I will add a "smiley" on the chart for each day i remain "dry", and start giving myself some small (non-alcoholic) rewards to keep myself motivated.
I have signed up to Craig's Twitter page and already I have 27 new followers on there, so please followers and friends keep kicking my ass to keep me off the wine cos I really do struggle at times to control it.
I've also set up an account on Fitday to allow me to keep a food journal, and I will re-do the 21 day kickstart plan on the TT for fat loss manual. I am also seriously thinking about posting my progress on the TT members forums.
Anyway, I have been doing a bit too much "guilty" exercise to compensate. However, that might contribute to dehydration and even worse, potential injury. So that is why it is important that I cut down.
To move away from my sins (for which I now repent!!!) I have had a nice long weekend. I decided to walk up The Wrekin, which is a local hill here in Shropshire. Its 407m (1,335 ft) high (according to Wikipedia). At school, we used to do our sponsored walks there (2 circuits) and it was quite a challenge. I haven't been up there for what must be 20 years. Yesterday I jogged around the base and climbed up the steepest part. It took me about 35 minutes from leaving the car to do it and it is quite a bit of a hike. I'd intended to shoot a quick video but the video cam battery had discharged so that wasn't to be.
Today I did the body attack class before doing my TT program. I have added a 5 exercise abs circuit for which I do 3 circuits before going on to do the intervals. The air conditioning hasn't been working properly at the gym (and it was worse in the studio) so it was a tough day today. The new body attack routine has now started and its a little bit complex. That said, I know I will pick it up shortly.
This afternoon I went for another trip up the Wrekin. I just walked it and did the easier route. However, I did it at a fairly brisk pace, and that combined with the abs work from earlier, I could feel the work I was doing and did break a bit of a sweat.
I am going to wrap it up for tonight and will make more of an effort to post a new entry more often
Keep kicking my ass if youre following my blog or twitter and I am still drinking the booze, and keep praising me for each bottle of diet ginger ale I consume.
Neil
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This is my general exercise and nutrition weblog to help people find products that will help them lose fat, rather than weight. That means a combination of exercise, nutrition (I hate the word diet as it implies "SACRIFICE") and lifestyle
