Project 180: Off To A Shaky Start

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May 162012
 

This is the first of weekly status updates for my efforts in getting healthy and fit.
Two weeks after I (re)started my efforts to become healthy and fit, I finally got some improvements (though minutes one).

The Good

First off, as mentioned in my earlier post, the day before I was about to start my work outs, I got rushed to the hospital. That put off my start for a week. Fortunately, the second week was more fruitful. I was able to reduce my rice intake to 1.5 cups per meal. Yeah, 2.5 cups was average.:) I was able to work out twice that week: a 33-minute walk around our community on Monday, and a Swimming workout (20 laps on Wednesday). I guess those initional efforts helped me lose a kilogram of unwanted weight. That brings my weight down to 110kg from 111kg on May 1, 2012. I’m pretty optimistic about this. So for now I’ll maintain my current approach: lower carbohydrate intake and increase physical activity.

The Bad

Unfortunately, I haven’t made any improvements on my sleeping habits. I am still averaging 2 hours of sleep a day. It’s not that I cannot sleep: I have to stay up longer to accomplish all the tasks on my workload for both my full-time employment and my business.

This will be fun.

PROJECT180: Healthy and Fit in 180 days

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May 012012
 

April 1, 2012 – It’s 8AM in the morning, and having not slept the whole night, I was feeling a bit spaced out. I don’t know what got into me but I decided to weigh myself. One hundred and eleven (111) kilograms (244.2lbs): thats what a scale indicated. I tried different ways to stand on the weighing scale to see if it would make any difference. No change.
One question kept running in my mind: what the hell happened? When I started the year, I was weighing 108Kgs. Three months after, I weighed 3Kgs more. After several days of introspection and stress eating (realizing you’re really fat can be stressful), I have decided to embark on a life-changing adventure: to lose at least 40lbs in 180 days, or 6 months. It’s part of a bigger challenge I have started to change my life for the better: Project 180.

During the next 180 days, I’ll be documenting my efforts through this blog (again), and posting weekly results.

Ok, the thought of that 180 days is already making me tired. I’ll start later. :)

Six Months of Stress: A Reboot

 Diet, Updates, Weight Loss, Workout  No Responses »
Oct 042011
 

Six months ago I posted my weight at 103kg. On the same post I mentioned that I will try to lose more weight. Unfortunately, again, I wasn’t able to do that. For the past six months I was in and out of the hospital due to stress related ailments. It’s just this month that I’ve decided to go take it slow and go back to healthy living. Why? Because, based on my doctors, especially my cardiologist, any more stress can kill me.

I soon realized that there are more to stress than just getting tired. It has a lot of deadly side effects such as:

…and there are more. Just try searching Google for “STRESS CAN KILL“.
Since I stopped working out and eating healthy six months ago I gained 5 kilograms of stress-induced fat. Work-life balance was almost non-existent.
So, here we go again, a reboot of my efforts to lose weight and be healthy. Customary before-photo follows:
So that’s what 60 lbs of extra weight looks like. Wish me luck.

From 106 to 103 kg but…

 Diet, Updates, Weight Loss, Workout  1 Response »
Mar 232011
 

I’m now 103kg from 106. That’s 3kg lost in 12 weeks. That’s a very, very far from my target of 96kg by 4 April 2011. I need to make up for that in my next 3 months or by 4 July.

Check out my progress at http://myhealthandfitness.info/tracking/

Again, my overall goal is to be 78.73kg by my 33rd birthday on 30 Sept. I’ve divided that goal into three stages. The first stage ends on th 4 April, the second on 4 July, and the last ends on 30 September. Because of the slow start, I now need to lose 15kg or 30lbs by the 4 July.

Analysis:

Uncontrolled diet, and lack of exercise and sleep are the main killers this first stage. Stress eating due to deadlines and obligations killed my diet although we started eating healthy. Lack of discipline in my exercise time and sleep led to me being too tired to do physical activity.

Resolution:

  1. Do not eat after 9am and before 8am. That time should be spent resting and recovering.
  2. Daily 30-minute exercise, minimum.
  3. Sleep at least 6 hours a day.
  4. Record workout performance.
  5. Do these resolutions.

Let’s see how this first stage ends and the second stage begins.

Early Plateau

 Updates, Weight Loss  No Responses »
Mar 022011
 

My weight is not going down as I’ve expected. With only a month to go before my first cut off, I still need to lose 10kg or 22 lbs. I may need to do drastic measures. I’ll post my photo update next Monday. I hopefully lose at least 2Kg. Wish me luck.

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Healthy Restart

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Feb 142011
 

image

Last week I was rushed to the medical clinic for chest pains, stomach pains and nausea. After a handful of blood tests and ultra sound, I was diagnosed with a fatty liver but my stomach problems were still under observation. If it doesn’t get better in two weeks the doctor would do an endoscopy.

With that experience, I am jolted back to the hard reality that I should lose weight and start living a healthier lifestyle.
Today, Feb 14, I’m going to show some love for myself and start eating healthy.

I started the day with a bowl of rolled oat cereals, scrambled eggs with tomatoes and hotdog. I washed it down with a mug of decaf coffee.

For lunch I tossed a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, white onions, cheese bits, black pepper, and vinegar. For dessert I ate a banana and a cup of fruit yogurt.

I guess that’s a healthy restart. How about you, how are staying healthy?

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Another New Year, Another Chance at Getting Fit

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Jan 032011
 

Ok, time for a full confession: I binged during the holiday season of 2010. Yes I gave in to the lure of food. I dove in, ate my fair share, and stored the consumed energy in my body.

I’ll let the photos tell the story.

This is me on the 1st of November, 2010.

Photo taken on 1 November 2010

This is me on the 3rd of January, 2011.

Photo taken on 3 January 2010

I obviously gained weight. I think. You be the judge.

I guess by now you have an idea of my top goal for 2011. Yes, it is to lose weight, AGAIN. This year, I’m taking it to a more realistic level: lose 60lbs in 9 months or 20lbs every 3 months. The end goal is to have a well-trimmed body by my 33rd birthday (le fin Septembre).  For the record, that will be from 233 lbs to 173 lbs in 9 months. I know it’s possible because I’ve seen some determined people do it.

How am I going to do this again? The plan is still the same: Exercise and Diet. The reason I failed the last time was I didn’t follow the plan.

As an incentive, we’ll be going to the beach this April, 2011. By that month, I should have lost 20lbs or equivalent to my set of love handles.

Oh, by the way, for those reading this, I have an incentive for you to follow my status. I’m giving away a brand new Nokia C3 phone on my birthday to the first person who can guess what my final weight will be on the 30th of September 2011 Manila time. I’ll post more details about that contest and also on the details of my weigh loss and workout plan within the week.

Cheers!

Tracking Photos – Day 1

 Updates, Weight Loss  No Responses »
Nov 012010
 

Instead of posting my weight every day (or every week), I’ll just let the photos do the talking. Scout’s honor, I didn’t modify nor use the liquify tool of Photoshop on these photos.

Before Swimming daily (before 5 Oct 2010):

This photo best represent what I look like prior to my daily swimming activities.

After swimming almost daily in October, 2010:

Photo taken on 1st November 2010

Isn’t that easier for tracking my weight loss?

Cheers!

Back to Square One.

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Nov 012010
 

Yes, i’m back to square one. I’ve lost track of many things, including this weight loss journey. Don’t get me wrong, i’m still in the journey, but I just got side tracked. I started this journey with 104Kg body weight, and suprise, suprise, I’m still in that weight range (I peaked at 106Kg).
Due to some personal matters I had to attend, I skipped on the workouts and dealt with stress like I always do – Eat! Well, things are now mellowing down and I’ve got access to a swimming pool. For almost a month, I went swimming daily and lost 2Kg because of that.
With everything in my life normalizing, I guess it’s just about time to go back on my journey.
Come and join me again as I work my way to a healthy BMI.

 Posted by on November 1, 2010