Back to the Fat.

Yeap, I'm back. Back to being 69kgs that is. Just started working out again this week. It's going to be an uphill climb but I'll give a full update this Sunday. Currently at the office finishing up a rough cut for a documentary so I can't blog much.

Peace.

Many Apologies.

Tired editor is tired.

I apologize for the lack of updates. Jesus, it's been a full month since I last updated and to be honest, I haven't even done a single thing to help me get fit. Work has been really really hectic. This month is really killing me, I've had to sleep at the office almost 3 days every week and it's been going on for the past three weeks. So yeah, this is really killing me, can't wait for work to get back to reasonable levels so I can start working out again. I did weigh myself and guess what, I'm back at 67kgs... which is okay I suppose but I'm really backsliding, gotta watch what I eat and drink less beer. Heh.

Well, I gotta get back to work. Yes, I work sundays too. Mmmm.... I hope this month's paycheck is worth the sacrifice.

Week #14 - Life Turned Flip Side Up

Hello hello,

Not a good time to blog, work is getting even more hectic than before and I've just haven't had the time to weigh myself or even take a picture. As for workouts... last week was just pathetic, I only managed to do two out of three workout sessions. Sort of made up the third session by climbing the hill near my house. That was a nice workout mind you, felt like I was doing a little bit of HIIT.

Anyways, can't talk long but as a result of that hike, I've decided to sacrifice some sleep time and do ALL of my workouts in the morning - 6am in the morning that is. It's the same as before but I go for a 1 1/2 hour walk covering about roughly 7km in that span of time. I'll be doing that 5 times a week so I'm reintroducing my old routine which works out like this:-

Monday, Wednesday, Friday
4x15 Swiss-ball Pushups
5x12 Bicycle Situps
4x12 Swiss-ball Bench Presses
5x5 Chin-ups

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
4x12 Swiss-ball Squats
4x10 Dumbbell Lunges
4x12 Bicep Curls
4x12 Shrugs

Sundays will be rest day but I'll do a spot of hiking in the mornings. Plan to use the hike as a gauge of sorts to see my overall fitness level.

Well that's that. I gotta get back to work.

Peace

WEEK #14 - Stalemate

Hello,

Not a great week in terms of weight loss. Checked the scales and I'm back at 67kgs. Major shock. Here's how I look:-

Not much difference in terms of pictures but weight-wise...

Something went wrong in my regiment and it could be any of these or worst, all of them.

• Not drinking enough water. I need about 3 litres a day since I'm in a cold dry environment most of the time. The skin on my hands are dry and peeling, that's a sign.
• Meals are at irregular times and of varying sizes. I have more or less two meals a day and lunch is usually the heaviest. I also have dinner extremely late, around 9-10pm. Lunch is at 1pm now.
• Not working out hard enough, I do feel that I'm only targeting my core and not enough on my lower body muscles. They're important as they are the biggest muscle group in your body, next to your back muscles. Will work on that as early as next week.
• No more long walks. I used to walk a total of 30-40km a week which in my opinion really helps with fat burning. Gonna try and organize weekly hikes up a hill near my house, which should get me walking at least 20km a week.
• Not enough sleep. Well, I can't fix this fully but I'll try to get at least 7-8 hours on average.
• TOO MUCH BOOZE! Not a problem now since I'm saving up cash for a trip to Europe this November. Heh.

That's my list and it's looong. Well, I need to build more discipline and hopefully I can hit my goal of 60kg by the end of June. It is demoralizing but getting past this hiccup will be an awesome feeling.

Well, I need to get some sleep.

Peace.

Week #13 - Booze Booze Snooze.

Hello Hello,

Blogging from the office here so I'll keep it short and simple; as simple as I can be that is.

So yeah, week #12 is missing a post as I was at my relatives place in Kuantan, Pahang and they didn't have any internet. That and I was drinking waaaay too much for Chinese New Year. Did a lot of boozing this past week as well so here's the damage. I'm 66kgs now and look.... more or less the same, maybe developing a belly again.

Beer belly in the making? Le-gasp.

Well now, I've gotten used to my regiment again and feel a whole lot stronger that I was two weeks back so it's time to up the ante!

Amir's Get Back Into Shape Routine (part two)
4 sets of 15 Swiss Ball Push-ups
4 sets of 15 Bicycle Crunches
4 sets of 12 Swiss Ball Bench Presses
5 sets of 6(or as much as I can do) Chin-ups
Workout days : Mon, Wed, Fri

Cardio Training : 1 hour / 200 sets of Jumping Jacks each morning

That should help me lose the belly that's starting to take shape. Let's hope it works eh?

Anyways, I mentioned something about getting adequate rest and what not and yes, it's quite obvious that you NEED rest but how much is too much and how little is too little? The general rule is 8 hours of sleep each night at regular hours. It is true but to a certain extent of course, I personally find that I need at least 9 hours of sleep a day due to the uncertain nature of my work and it has so far worked in the past 3 weeks as I don't seem to feel any weaker during the weekend.

The best way to gauge if you're getting enough rest is this, set a workout routine for yourself and by the second or third session if you feel that you can seem to complete your sets then you're not getting enough rest. It's a no-brainer but you'd be suprised by how many people get demotivated by this. What and when you eat are determining factors as well but that's logic really, just don't work out when you're starving and don't workout till after you've digested your food. Simple.

If you stick to this closely you should either lose weight consistently and feel fresh everyday or just maintain your current body shape but still feel good. If it's the latter, you're not pushing yourself enough then. Heh.

Well, I need to get back to work.

Cheerio.

WEEK #11 - Super Long Cheat Period.

Greetings...

Yeah, yeah, I know, I took a month and then some more off my work out regiment. I don't feel that great about it either but what to do. When your fiancee comes back from Christmas break and you've got an insane amount of work the first week of the new year, you'd think twice about working out eh? I know, Excuse #9000.

So did I hit my goal for December 2008? The answer is YES, I did. I was 65 kgs during Christmas and did I gain any weight during my long break? The answer is also YES, I did. I was 67 kgs during the first week of January and now I'm back at 65.5 kgs. How do I look? Let's take a look shall we?

Decent but I've lost some muscle definition...

Not too great but I'm trying to get back in shape. I've lost a lot of muscle thanks to slacking off and drinking waaaay too much booze during the holiday season. Stated in my previous post, I did indeed get myself a Swiss Ball and it's really great! You can really feel the strain it puts on muscles that you don't usually use and it does make simple things like push-ups and sit-ups more challenging!

Here's my current workout plan; something I need to stick to for at least two weeks to get back into shape. I can't even stick to circuit training, that's how much weaker I am since I took the month off.

Amir's Get Back Into Shape Routine
3 sets of 15 Swiss Ball Push-ups
3 sets of 15 Bicycle Crunches
3 sets of 12 Swiss Ball Bench Presses
3 sets of 6(or as much as I can do) Chin-ups
Workout days : Mon, Wed, Fri

So that's that, I do it one workout at a time. The only issue I have are meal times. I usually eat my lunch around 1-2pm which is fine but dinner is the issue, I have my dinner around 8, 9 or even 10pm sometimes. So I sometimes get to full for workouts. What I'm thinking now is to have lunch at 3pm or so, head home, hit my routine first THEN have dinner. Which is what I've been doing for the past week. I hope this helps.

Oh yeah, I was supposed to talk about how sleep affects your weight loss and muscle gains but I'm too tired (see: lazy) to talk about it. I'll post it at the end of this week. Hopefully.

We'll see...

till then,
Cheerio.