Mark's got too fat blog

Been busy over christmas, so a few things to report.

Weighed in at 13 stone 6 lb on Boxing day, so made my 3 stone target.

Now weigh in a pound heavier, after reasonable damage limitation over the festive period. Not stuck to the diet, but then again I have not gone silly either. Missed the gym 3 times, going back in tommorrow and then its back to normal from there.

On Tuesday, I went up to the Lake District and walked from the Kirksone Pass Inn up some of the surrounding fells. Even though it was minus 3 deg C and snowing it was good fun. My fitness is better now and the reduced weight is much better when climbing mountains!

Posted by Mark at 7:21 pm | 4 comments

Weighed in this morning at 13 stone 8 lb (190lb), which is just 1lb short of my goal. I should be able to get rid of that pesky pound before Xmas day so I am still on target. This means I will weigh in again on Saturday.

Have found that my workouts are a bit more intense in the gym. Its just easier to go up a weight with machines and a good selection of free weights. My new workout plan is going well - just at the end of the second of six weeks for this routine.

Finally, I have now bought and wrapped Christmas presents for everyone - a record for me! I am off work from Tuesday evening, so will have plenty of time to relax before Christmas.

Posted by Mark at 9:58 am | 1 comments

Now I have my skinfold calipers (bought off ebay.co.uk) I have been able to analyse my body composition. As of this morning, i am 191 lb, with 20.5% body fat. I have decided that 10% body fat should be my goal - this will mean I look lean and my abs should be showing.

Form my weight and body fat %, I can work out what I would wiegh at 10% - thats 167 lb or about 12 stone. This target could change by a couple of pounds as I have put some muscle on recently since changing my exercises.

Posted by Mark at 8:51 pm | 1 comments

This is a pic showing the progress I have made in the last 15 weeks:

I'm very happy with the change as you might imagine.

I would also like to thank twicetheman for his kind words and the feature on me in his blog. Its great to have other people encouraging you, both here and away from the computer. Caught up with one of my friends who's not seen me for over a month due to exam commitments - he saw the difference straight away.

Posted by Mark at 10:11 am | 4 comments

I have taken the decision to run Google Adsense adverts on this blog and in parts of my own site. I am trying to keep the adverts to a sensible level - I am not a fan of in your face advertising. However, if it pays for my hosting with minimal effort, I wont complain!

If anyone has any comments on this change let me know.

Posted by Mark at 9:47 am | 1 comments

Into the sixth week of my second 12 week cycle. 2 lb more has gone in the last week or so - my worst rate of weight loss yet! Should even out over the next week, still having to tighten belt quite often so its still good.

Mondays in the gym aint too good - bit busier. Why do people bother going just to throw weight around with poor form and do partial reps? Some some young lads messing round with the cable station, and some woman using the pec dec at speed which blurred the arms! Oh well, I can sit there happy in the knowledge my routine is actually having an effect and that my diet is sorted.

My home gym has been put away for a while, giving us a spare bedroom for once. I should be able to put it back in place given 10-15mins, so no worries if I cant get to the gym for any reason.

3lbs to go to my goal - 3 stone lost before Christmas.

Posted by Mark at 1:14 pm | 1 comments

Moving into another week. Last week I got my body fat calipers (22% BF I think) which I am still perfecting my technique with, and joined a gym.

The gym is working well - I have been twice and its not too busy. All the exercises I need to do are possible with the range of machines they have. Only thing lacking is a power rack or squat cage. There is however a smith machine so that will do for the moment.

I am moving onto a new weight routine - a 3 day split concentrating on legs, chest and back. This is a 6 week program, followed by 6 weeks of another routine targeting arms, abs, shoulders etc. The first 6 weeks are as follows:

Leg Curl / Leg Extension / Leg Press
Bench Press
Lateral Raise
Chin Up
Tricep Pushdown
Ab Crunch


Chin Up / Straight Arm Pushdown / Bent Over Row
Squat
Incline Dumbell Press
Barbell Curl
Shoulder Press
Glute-Ham Raise


Dip / Dumbbell Fly / Bench Press
Squat
Pullover
Seated Row
Barbell Wrist Curl
Ab Crunch

The first 3 exercises on the same line are a superset - performed back to back with no rest. This should make my lifting more varied and give muscles longer to recover. All are single set, 6-8 reps at 5 seconds to lift and 5 seconds to lower the weight. I will probably try greater volume when I finish losing fat and start really trying to gain muscle.

Weigh ins are now going to be weekly 1st thing in the morning - I was getting a little obsessive about them. I should always lose weight over the course of a week - but day to day it can go up and down quite a bit.

Posted by Mark at 11:43 am | 0 comments

Joined my local gym last night. I have reached the end of what I can do at home - limited options and weight. I really needed to upgrade the bench and buy loads more weight - which was looking like £400 - £700 for decent quality equipment that would last me.

So instead I joined the gym for £20 per month - seemed a better idea. Its on my way home from work and I usually work out as soon as I get home anyway, so its ideal. They have all the kit I need for my current and future workouts, including a decent free weights area.

Posted by Mark at 4:39 pm | 0 comments