Zone Training

I was given an Adidas MiCoach ZONE for Christmas and have been using it for almost all of my runs over the last two weeks.  I love the simplicity of it – at a glance you can see if you are in the right heart rate “zone” via a flashing colour indicator.  The Adidas website offers zone workout charts but I considered them to be a bit too basic and have devised my own workouts – I have experimented daily and have come up with something that hits the spot just right for me:

AVERAGE HEART RATE VALUES DURING EXERCISE

Yellow / Red Zone – 30 minutes HIIT (inc. 15 minutes warm-up/cool-down jog) – 350 cals

Green Zone – 30 minutes jog in fatburning zone – 350 cals

Blue Zone – 30 minutes walk @3.5mph – 300 cals

This is a strenuous 90 minute workout that yields a 1000 calorie burn (I perform the final blue zone walk until my total calorie burn reaches 1000 cals). 

One of the things I love about this new type of training is that I am using calories as a system of measurement as opposed to distance or time.  Ever since I got back into my cardio last September I have been measuring my daily workouts using distance, going up to an average of 3.5 miles per day.  This watch, and the accompanying science/literature, have convinced me that calculating my calorie burn during exercise is a more sensible approach as my main aim is to lose weight (conversely, if my aim was to run a marathon, distance would be a more appropriate form of measurement).

This watch, once accurately calibrated according to my age and maximum heart rate, is providing me with a no-nonsense system of measurement that is directly linked to my weight loss goals.  By adjusting my daily calorie intake whilst measuring my calorie expenditure with the watch I can better control/maintain my weight loss.

I am going to carry on with the 90 minute workouts.  Yes, it is quite extreme, especially for my bodyweight, but my fitness levels have improved substantially over the last four months and I am feeling up to the challenge.  I am aiming to do this routine four to five times a week, whilst maintaining my weight training and throwing a couple of hikes into the mix for good measure.

On a side note:

You may have noticed that I didn’t get weighed on the first of January.  I fully intended to do it, but when the time came I decided that it was utterly pointless.  It was obvious that I had put some weight on over Christmas, so getting weighed would only put me on a downer!  As I am feeling so positive about my weight loss thus far, and my increases in strength and fitness, I decided that I didn’t want to risk putting myself in a downward spiral.  Makes sense to me…

I will therefore wait until the first of February to get weighed.  As I don’t know how much weight I put on over Christmas, setting any kind of a target is difficult.  I have decided to aim for 234lbs, a nice round number!

I hope I haven’t gained too much weight!

Well, its weigh day tomorrow and I must admit that I am a bit apprehensive.  I have tried so hard to resist temptation over the festive period but I have let it slip over the last few days.  I am still running but I have succumbed to a selection of calorie-dense foods, from crisps to cake and cookies to chocolates.  The constant barrage of delicious foods from every angle has proven too hard to decline.

I shall get weighed in the morning and if I am still under 18 stone I will be incredibly pleased. 

As to 2011, I am going to give it my absolute best shot at making it the year that I finally hit 15 stone again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Stupendously Cold!

Things are still on track.  I am maintaining my one carb meal per day strategy, although I am adding occasional after-dinner treats in the evenings whilst watching the telly.  The weather is dampening the spirits slightly as we are still in the grip of a freezing winter.  The temperature dipped down to an astonishing minus nine degrees last night – I have never known it this cold in my part of the UK.  My weights equipment is housed in the garage and I estimate that the temperature was at least minus five whilst I trained chest, shoulders and triceps yesterday!

I have continued to do my 3.5 mile run before breakfast but I am changing my routine for the next few weeks until the end of the festive period.  I am reducing my daily mileage to just 2.5 miles per day until the beginning of 2011.  I will be aiming for six runs per week but if I occasionally miss one then so be it.  Come January 1^st however I aim to get right back at it and increase my intensity.

Lost 20lbs

Finally got weighed today and I am pleased to report that I am 20lbs lighter!  My weight is exactly 250lbs (17 stone 8lbs; 113kg).  I must confess to being incredibly nervous and apprehensive before stepping on the scales.  Why?  Because I have been putting in SO much effort.  I have NEVER been this focused before and consider this to be an entirely new chapter for me.

On many occasions in the past I have changed my diet or exercise routine after a while, but not this time.  I am gonna keep on doing what I am doing for as long as possible.

My aim is to be as close to 17 stone as possible by the end of the month.  I know this will be hard as it is the festive period and I usually gain a lot of weight.  I intend to try my best however, and will do my utmost to prevail.

Gonna get weighed in 48 hours

My consistency has been good again this week, both with my food intake and my cardio.  I am now up to 3.5 miles before breakfast (running), 6 days a week.  I missed a few of my walks and succumbed to my first bag of Doritos in almost three weeks but overall things are more than satisfactory.

The weather has been quite shocking for the time of year as we are suffering with minus temperatures and thick snow.  I would normally see this as an excuse to “pig out” and scoff a load of calorie-dense foods to help “keep me warm”!  But not this time.

After much deliberation I have finally decided to get weighed.  Before I started my new programme I was approximately 19 stone 4lbs (270lbs; 122.4kg).  I would be overjoyed if my weight was back in the 17 stone zone.

I will get weighed on the first of December.  I am also considering the possibility of getting weighed on the first of each month – this would be a good indicator of my progress.

One carb meal per day

Things are going well!  I am still maintaining low carbs.  I have gone back to having just one carb meal per day, and I am controlling the amount of carbs I eat during that one meal as opposed to gorging myself.  I am up to six miles per day with the cardio – 3 miles running and 3 miles fast-paced walking.  I can feel that I have lost weight!  I have finally had to tighten my belt buckle for the first time in a couple of years and it feels great.  My shirts feel less tight and trousers/jeans feel much more comfortable.  I am wanting to weigh myself but daren’t.

I estimate now that this is the longest I have ever stuck to a diet and exercise routine.  I follow it every day and it is working for me so I am gonna stick with it.

Ran every day for 26 days

I missed my run for the first time yesterday in almost four weeks.  I woke up with a splitting headache that lasted for most of the day so I decided to skip the run.  This means that I ran for 26 consecutive days – pretty cool!  I have never adopted a level of consistency anywhere near as intense as this.

I managed just the one carb meal per day every day this week so I am very pleased.  From tomorrow I am further restricting my carbs, allowing myself only milk in my coffee, tomato ketchup on my eggs and a glass or two of wine/beer in the evening.  No complex carbs at all if I can help it.

I have also decided, after much consideration, to have a break from the running at least one day a week (probably Sunday).  My legs feel so much better today after skipping yesterday’s run so having a day off every week seems like a sensible thing to do.  I am also going to slow it down slightly to compensate for the lack of carbs over the coming week.  I am aiming for just 45 minutes a day on the treadmill, first thing, before I eat breakfast (best time for fat burning).

Still not been weighed…

Time to crank it up a bit

Ran every day again this week.  This means that I have now run every day for three weeks, an achievement I am extremely pleased with.

I did some HIIT and played with some of my treadmill’s programs but I think I prefer to stick with straightforward running.  At my weight running at anything over 5mph seems to put too much stress on my joints so I’ll stick at around or just under 4.5mph for now.

As yet I haven’t really changed my daily diet so I have decided to crank it up a bit this week.  From tomorrow I am aiming to have just one carb meal per day.  My Blog is filled with references to how I believe low carbs are better for weight loss than low fat (although I still think that calorie counting is the ultimate way of achieving satisfactory weight loss).

I still haven’t been weighed yet… maybe next week?

Consistency

Simply cannot believe it has been 6 months since I last posted.  Where does the time go?  I have been incredibly busy with so many things, not to mention moving house, so I have really let things slip.  I spent most of the summer eating and did little in the way of cardio, managing a few hikes here and there.  I did maintain a steady weights routine however and I am currently training three to four times per week.

Needless to say I didn’t achieve my target weight of 16 stone!  This is the first year in the last five that I haven’t attempted a proper summer diet.  I did decide just over a month ago however that enough is enough.

Around five weeks ago I started hiking in earnest again, doing quite a few five milers.  Once I felt like I had built up a bit of leg strength I started running once more – only short distances to begin with.  I steadily built things up until I felt I was ready to tackle something a bit different.  For the first time EVER I decided to try and put my CONSISTENCY theory to the test and attempt to run every single day, skipping rest days altogether.  So, for the last two weeks, I have been running EVERY DAY.

During the first week I ran a total of 18.5 miles, and during the week that has just gone by I ran a total of 20.6 miles.  My legs ached considerably after the first three or four days, but now they seem okay.  The runs have become more manageable over the last two weeks as well.

Obviously this isn’t any huge weekly distance but I am really pleased with the progress I have made and that I am managing to run every day.  I want it to become automatic.  If I no longer need to think about it and accept it as part of my daily routine it will be harder to find excuses not to do it, something that I was incredibly good at before (too cold, too tired etc).  Hopefully the mileage will increase as my fitness levels increase and my legs gain more strength.

I am changing direction slightly for the following week as I want to increase my pace during my runs.  In order to maintain daily runs I have been “plodding” at a pace of around 4.1 miles per hour.  Any faster and my legs ache more the next day, affecting my ability to run a longer distance.  I acknowledge however that 4.1 mph isn’t especially fast so for the next seven days I am going to concentrate more on HIIT and some of my treadmill’s built in speed programs in the hope that they will help me pick up my pace a little.  After this I will resume distance runs and hopefully complete a total of 25 miles in one week – the most I have ever done.

I am still totally overweight.  I daren’t get weighed for fear of de-motivation, but I reckon I am currently approximately 19 stone (120kg; 266lbs).  I am toying with the idea of a mini-diet sometime before the festive season but I can’t decide whether or not I have the time or the inclination.  After five years of yo-yoing I am so reluctant to diet again.  I am enjoying my daily runs and hope to continue with them for as long as I can.

I will post at least once a week for posterity – a record of my mileages and recognition of my resilience.  I am really trying this time.  Really.

10.5 lbs in 10 days!

Weigh day today.  My target weight was 270lbs but I actually managed an astonishing 264.5lbs!  This means that I have lost 10.5lbs in the last ten days!  To say I am pleased would be an understatement.

As I am still too heavy for any serious running, I have been doing a lot of walking.  I hiked 8 miles on Monday and then 10 miles yesterday.  My feet are a bit knackered after this so I am taking today off and giving them a rest.

The novelty of the salads is wearing a bit thin now.  We have spiced it up by adding a wedge of quiche (!), but it still seems a bit bland.  When I posted that we were going to concentrate on salads until August I guess I was being a bit optimistic.  In truth we are considering doing the Atkins Diet again, for a week or so, just to break up the monotony. 

Anyways, I am extremely happy with the way things are progressing.