Fat and Unfit: Blog

Gerrans wins Tour Down Under

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:50:41 +1300

As a huge cycling fan, I really enjoyed watch the final two stages of the Tour Down Under on TV over the weekend. I'm a absolutely over the moon that not only did Simon Gerrans win but that GreenEdge had a race win in their first outing as a Pro Tour team.

However this joy does leave me with a little bit of concern. Yet again an Aussie has won the tour. My fear is that with the race being won by Aussie's most years and Aussie's being the most notable protagonists in the race, could the race be in jeopardy in the future? TDU is so early in the international cycling season and right in the middle of the Aussie season that most of the Aussie's in the race are already race fit while, the internationals are just pulling the bikes out for the first time since the end of last season. The fact that Greipel won 3 stages is great, in that he isn't Australian but it also shows that most of the other top sprinters weren't really in form or not there.

Overall it probably isn't that bad a problem and it is definitely an amazing race to help develop Australian cycling. Australia has so many cyclists coming through that the future is very bright. Long live the Tour Down Under.

Source: Gerrans wins Tour Down Under

Macca's I'm here to win

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:36:00 +1300

Last week I read Macca's I'm Here To Win. Talk about a page turner. I'm not a fast reader but the fact that I couldn't put it down meant that I read it cover to cover in less than two days.

One of the things that I really loved was the fact that Chris grew up in Sydney (my home town), discovered triathlon and ironman by watching the same Wide World of Sports broadcast of Kona and started out racing some of the same races I raced in as a kid. I spent a lot of the early parts of the book traveling down memory lane. The book is also full of some great insight into some of the things that has made Chris great.

But what if

The thing that hit home to me the most was the thought of what could have been. The couple of seasons that I really got into triathlons at the end of high school was at a point where I had left athletics a year or so earlier, I didn't have a coach or any regular endurance training and my only serious sport I focused on was hockey in the winter. I loved triathlons and at one point joined a swim squad for a few weeks. The thing was that I didn't really have a clue of what I was meant to do to train properly. Ultimately I loved music more and so followed that dream instead.

Don't get me wrong, I love the twist and turns my life has taken but I can't help wonder what if...

Source: Macca's I'm here to win

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:53:00 +1300

It has been quite a while since my last post, over 7 months! But lots has been happening.

Let's start with the biggest

August 28th saw the birth of my daughter. Her first 4 months have been an interesting ride. Learning to be a father has not been easy. Especially while training for the Auckland Marathon (more on that shortly). The one thing I will mention is that there is nothing like seeing my little girls face first thing in the morning when she wakes up, though I'm not normally the one up at that time of the morning. Her biggest and brightest smile is the first one she gives to the person who goes to get her out of bed in the morning.

The weight is lifting

So I'm proud to announce that as of last time on the scale, over a week ago, I was just over 20kg's lighter than the first weigh in of the year. Actually two weeks before Auckland Marathon I had lost over 23kg's. There was a bit of let off on the long weekend we had at that point, and then…

Goals not finished

I started the year with the goal of getting fit and losing the weight forever. I then learned that the World Tri champs are being held in Auckland next year so started thinking that, while it was a difficult challenge, I thought I could pull it off. As training continued, the impending baby came closer and work got extremely challenging, I change the goals a bit and decided to just focus on the running and put the Auckland Marathon at the top of the goal list. The running started to come together and dispute the birth of my daughter I managed to get a 21km, 18km and 32km races under my belt. The 32km race was completed just 4 weeks before the marathon and I was really happy with the time. Unfortunately two days before the big race saw me on a plane to Sydney for my grandmother's funeral. So alas, no marathon completed.

The last couple of months

So the last couple of months have really been a training break, focus on work and being a dad. I have managed to get most of the little of weight I gained in November back off. So here I sit looking down the barrel of a new year feeling like I achieved quite a bit.

Onwards and upwards

I'm really excited by what 2012 holds. While my back is really sore right now, I feel that things are all aligned in the right way. Not sure what fitness goals to set yet. I'm thinking of sticking to running for another 12 months to see how fast I can get, possibly look at masters athletics. My cousin in law has got into sprinting and talking athletics with him, plus watching a bit this year on TV has really got the old track lust burning inside.

So to sign off this year, I'd like to wish everyone a happy new year and I hope you follow me as I stop being Fat and Unfit.

Source: Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

Breaking through barriers

Sat, 07 May 2011 13:38:00 +1200

So many would be forgiven for thinking that I have fallen off the wagon again, after not having posted anything in some time. Well, I'm pleased to say that I haven't. Actually if you follow my Facebook or Twitter feeds you would have heard some more (though not much more) from me.

Anyway, I have great news. For the last 4 or so weeks I have been stuck with my weight fluctuating between 117kg and 118kg. This has been a little frustrating to say the least because of all the noticeable improvements I have been making with the personal training sessions Brad has been taking me through. Well no more. I just weighed myself and I came in at 116.3kg. Even better though is the scales give a fat % measurement, which has never gone below 28.5%, this time, 26.5%.

On the movement front

It is also just over a month since I started working with Brad and so we did a bit of a little reassessment of my movement patterns and stability. Long story short (great band by the way if only they would update their website, in case their reading…), the improvements were in credible. Not just being able to do them smoother but the balance and stability, amazing difference.

I'm running again

The last week also saw me go for the first proper run. Using the run/walk approach, I went out with Brad for 45mins. If I'm honest, still a very long way to go, but it was the first time I actually felt like I was running and didn't have any of the aches and pains that I had been having whenever I attempted to job a little bit.

So overall I am feeling quite inspired by the barriers I have broken through in the last week. Yah me!

Source: Breaking through barriers

It's time for a personal trainer

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:44:00 +1200

Updated 7th May 2001: Added link to Brad's website

It has been a busy last 5 days on the fitness front. It all started on Saturday when I met Brad McCullough a new client for my website company. The backstory that lead to my deciding to meet Brad (I don't usually get to meet our new clients at such an early stage in the sales process) was after hearing about him and his philosophy from Sarah. You see, Brad is a Personal Trainer and I have been wondering for some time about whether I should start working with a person trainer or coach but I had a lot of concerns. However when Sarah came home buzzing about him after their initial meeting I thought I should meet him.

Why a Personal Trainer and not a coach?

My biggest hurdles, as I perceive them, are my weight and core/pelvic stability. If I was to go out and get a coach, odds are that I wouldn't get the personalized attention I would need to diagnose what was going on and how best to fix these issues. My big concern about a Personal Trainer was that while they would help improve those issues, I need to really need to know that my technique is sound and that I'm moving efficiently. Typically, when I started training in recent years I've focussed on cardio, rather than my core and biomechanics, which has resulted in a lot of set backs through injury because my body wasn't ready for this type of training. This is something that I can't afford this time, more on that in a later post. So what was the thing about Brad that sold me? He is studying a Masters in Biomechanics. He focuses first and foremost on making sure your moving right and your technique is right before ramping up the training.

Assessment Time

So I had my first assessment on Tuesday where I was put through movements like squats and lunges to see how my range of motion was, whether I was stable in that movement and what my overall strength was like. Turns out my hunches on my stability were spot on, if not a tiny bit optimistic. I am basically totally unstable in all my movements. When it came to range of movement and flexibility, I was a little shocked how bad it had become. I couldn't even touch my toes. As someone who used to be able to do the splits this was embarrassing. The shining light was that, according to Brad, I'm still pretty strong through my legs, though my muscles the next day would beg to differ. In fact two days later my gluts were feeling very ordinary.

Today was the cardio assessment. This was a treadmill test that slowly increased speed every 3 minutes till I felt I reached maximum excursion. I made it to 16 minutes and 11.5km/h. Not great you'd agree. Though I should admit that, 16 mins is the longest I have run for over 2 years. All the exercise I have been doing over the last few months has been either walking or in the gym on a X-trainer or exercise bike. Did I mention I'm unfit? There was another shining light here though, recovery. When I finished my heart rate was 185 beats per minute, probably about 5 short of my max I think. But after just a minute of rest my heart rate had dropped to 147, not to bad for a fat and unfit slob like me.

The only way is up

The good news is that there is a lot of potential. In fact Brad seems to be quite excited by the potential and may even use me and my program as part of his Uni work. So this Saturday is when I find out the big plan and do my first proper "PT" session. I'll let you know how I survive.

Source: It's time for a personal trainer

What is balance? Really?

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:54:00 +1300

The biggest thing I decided at the end of last year I wanted to work on most this year is balance. In particular finding the way to do everything I want to do without letting anything slip. My wife will tell you I'm trying to be Superman and doing too much, but I truly believe I am capable of both achieving everything I want to achieve and still enjoy the little things.

So lets start with everything that would be included in my ideal life, in no particular order:

Make my companies successful
Get out of debt
Be known as a great web developer
Complete my Uni degree
Play Guitar/music in a band
Hapkido
Rock climbing
Compete at a high age grouper level in Triathlon and Cycling
Play hard
Be a great friend
Be a loving son and family member
Be a loving husband (and maybe someday, dad)

OK so the last one is actually the most important but don't tell my mum that. ;)

In the past my biggest mistake I think is just trying to do everything now. Ultimately I have paralyzed myself and made a lot of things worse. Hence the weight gain for example.

To be honest, I don't know exactly how I'm going to manage this right now but I am trying something different this time round. In fact I got the idea from web development. The term is progressive enhancement. For a start, instead of just planning out my day and trying to do it all, I'm adding everything one at a time. Find balance, live with it for a while, add something else. Then rinse and repeat.

So far this is showing where I am going wrong when it is still possible to fix it, rather than crashing and burning. For example, coming back from a long Xmas break, I have started trying to exercise at least 3 times a week. Now 3 times a week isn't going to get me to my goals quickly but it is a start and also, did I mention how unfit I am. But already in just the first two weeks of this, my work in slipping. I haven't been anywhere as productive as I was without the exercise pre Xmas.

So now I know, before I try and bring the music back in, I know that being productive for 40-50 hours a week needs to happen first.

I'll let you know how I go but I am keen to hear from anyone (working mothers for example) out there about how they manage to juggle many things at once.

Source: What is balance? Really?

Of Little Athletics

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:21:00 +1300

From the outset I should mention that this post is inspired from a great friend of mine, Simon, who wrote a recent post "Of Athletics" about taking his kids to try athletics.

I first started "Little A's" just before my 7th birthday, and right from the beginning I enjoyed it. I was always tall for my age so I didn't do too bad but didn't set the world on fire. This changed when I was competing in the under 9's as at the zone carnival, I qualified for Regionals. That was when I met and started being coached by Mr Hansen. I might have to dedicate a post to Mr Hansen sometime.

The thing with athletics, is that apart from competing in relays, the buck rests no one else but you. If you don't do well, you have no one to blame apart from yourself. This was the reason why my days doing athletics as a kid was so memorable to me. I was taught early on to compare my results with my previous bests. This is a powerful lesson for as kid, when I was middle of the field, to focus on improving my previous best. But it was possibly more powerful when I was winning. Just because you win doesn't mean you gave it your best. When everything is said and done, doing your best is all you can expect.

Thank you Little A's, and thanks Simon for prompting some happy memories.

Source: Of Little Athletics

Under 120kg! just...

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:38:47 +1300

Happy news, I have managed to get on the scales and be under 120kg's. This is a first at least a couple of years. So progress is definitely happening.

At this point I should give full disclosure and mention that I was 119.9kg's, so certainly a bit touch and go really. However, my scales also measure body fat percentage and this had quite a bit of change. Since starting this journey again, I have be hovering around 30% even as the kg's started to come off, but today was 28.3%. This is a big improvement and makes me happy more than the weight.

Source: Under 120kg! just...

Shall we try that again...

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +1300

Shall we try that again?

When I started this blog in June 2008, two and half years ago, I was planning on finding some balance in my life and loose weight and get back to being generally organised. However as you can see from some of the early posts to the site, just after starting the site, my wife and I spent a month traveling in Europe. It truly was one of the best times of my life. When we got home, we found the floor in our home based business, no work in the pipeline. Which meant no money coming in. So instead of finding balance, I have spent the last two and a half years trying to structure our business (businesses now) so that I could find balance between working at what I love and also enjoy that other many things I love.

So here goes version 2.0

So after making just about every business mistake you can make, it is time to get it right. So welcome to the new look. In coming posts I will talk about what changed in my life and why the balance excuse, was just that, an excuse. I hope you enjoy.

Source: Shall we try that again...

Test post for Hoosuite

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1200

I'm planning out the relaunch of my site and this is a test as a part of it.

Source: Test post for Hoosuite

Learnt a blood pressure fact

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +1300

So it is fair to say that the fitness thing hasn't been going too well in recent months, as with the blogging too I guess. There are always a million excuses but lets just say that I am mightily disappointed that there are still only 24 hours in the day. Anyway, as I am finally getting a level of balance back into my life, I went to the Dr this week to just get a basic check up and found out from her something pretty interesting.

Last time I had a fitness test at the gym, I had got a little worried about my blood pressure. It seemed quite high. This time at the Dr's it was amazingly low, I'm talking 90 over 42. When I said that I had been worried about because of the gym test, she asked me how big the cuff used to take the measurement was. Apparently to get an accurate reading the measuring cuff needs to be at least 66% the length of your upper arm. Other you will get high blood pressure readings. At 6'4" (193cm) my upper arm is 33cm long and as you guessed it, the gym measuring cuff didn't even cover half my arm, hence the high reading.

Evidently I have always had a low blood pressure, based on my history with my Dr so, nothing to worry about there I guess.

Source: Learnt a blood pressure fact

The new inspiration on the block

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +1200

I am blessed to work with a lot of truly amazing people and these last few weeks have been no exception. A few days ago we went live with stage one of a new website for Kate Nankivell's new Force of Nature site. For those of you who haven't been as blessed to meet Kate, let me tell you that Force of Nature is a perfect description of who she is. Check out her site for a full description of her achievements, but for someone like myself who currently find himself totally off course in terms of my fitness goals, it is great to come across someone like Kate to inspire me to get back on track.

Thanks Kate.

Source: The new inspiration on the block

Weight Management Product for Athletes

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +1300

Trijuice have just put up an interesting article about a new meal replacement and hunger supression product designed especially for athletes. The weight management product for athletes, is the first time I have come across something that specifically targets athletes.

It's an interesting concept and something I think I am keen to try it. Being the type of person who sits in front of a computer way too long and works way too much, I don't tend to put a lot of thought into my meals so I know that I don't eat very well. Probably the reason I'm fat.

It seems to take the approach of having lots of all the stuff we should be having like healthy fats and fibre that are like the body's own appetite switch. The website makes are good argument and definitely worth reading. Besides if there is anything we can take from the athletes that have signed up to be involved then, it must be unbelievable.

Source: Weight Management Product for Athletes

Achieving goals and milestones

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +1200

As training progresses achieving goals progresses. What I mean is that it is not possible to put in the training and not be achieving a few milestones along the way.

Following on from my last post, I have started to get a little consistency in the training. The goal for this week was to do at least 30 mins each day with Sunday off for recovery and reward and I know it is only Wednesday but so far so good. But thing I want to talk about today is ticking off those little milestones.

Today I did the short run loop around the block and broke 30 mins for it for the first time since I started training. Now, the goal for this loop is 25 mins, but of course to get to that speed I need to first get to 30 mins, and today I did it.

Acknowledge the Milestones

Not only is it important when you are trying to form a habit to praise yourself for each time you reaffirm that habit but it is just as important to take time and praise yourself for each milestone that you get. I know this sounds very airy fairy but if you are coming from a place where you didn't have any discipline in regard to the goal, then every bit helps.

The real aim here isn't so much the reward but the acknowledgement that you are making progress.

Don't over do it

It is very important to not over celebrate your goals. My Aunty is over weight and has been going to Weight Watchers for a few years now. In the total time she has been going she has achieved several weight loss milestones. But today doesn't really weigh any less than when she started. Why? Because the milestone she keeps getting is the 10% weight loss. The celebration is so great, and lasts so long that afterwards, she has nearly gained all the weight again and it back at the starting line.

So when achieving the little milestones take time to acknowledge those achievements and give yourself a little reward, but quickly focus on the next one.

I don't know who coined this phrase but it is a good one. "Success is a journey, not a destination". For me, that means have your eye on the next goal as you are achieving the current one.

Source: Achieving goals and milestones

Forming new habits and self discipline

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +1200

Forming new habits can be very difficult. I have been back from Europe now for almost two months and I really have been struggling to get any kind of consistent training in. If you are reading this blog cause you relate to my situation then you'll understand. I haven't been waking up when I should, been focusing on work too much, you name it I have done it to avoid training. Basically my self discipline hasn't been there.

Of course this isn't anything new. I mean, I am where I am because of my lack of self discipline and time management. I have always been the last minute cramer. You know the type, if the assignment is due tomorrow, don't start it until after dinner and the TV shows are watched. Being a fit and healthy person does afford you that luxary. In fact my results at Ironman NZ 2005 will atest to that. With a month to go I realised that I wasn't ready and so did a few big sessions as a means of cramming the training in. I got to the finish line but if I look deep inside, I can't say that I am proud of the achievement.

The "Farmer" approach

No being fit takes what I call the "farmer" approach. You need to sow the seeds at the right time so you can harvest the crop come race day. In terms of being fit and putting in good performances on race day this means having the discipline to get out the door and do what you should do at the right time.

What's the problem?

So ultimately, what is it that is stopping me from doing it. I'll admit that right now training hurts. Not just in the way that training should hurt but also mentally it is tough. Riding the bike up a hill in granny gear and barely turning the pedals over when you used to be able to get up the same hill averaging 30km/h is not only physically tough but mentally it is demoralising. It is very hard to make yourself carry on with the session let alone get excited about the next one when you mentally take a beating each time you go out.

What's the answer?

So, if I go back to my trainer days, when I used to teach and train real estate agents, I would tell them that to create a habit you first need to take some enjoyment out of it. It is funny how many times I should listen to my own advice.

So my plan is to do exactly what I used to tell them what to do. When I finish a session, I will smile and give my self a pat on the back. "Well done Jai, great session, doesn't that feel so good to have done that." This sounds cheesy I know, but trust me it works. It is one of the methods I used to get over a fear of public speaking many years ago. Secondly, I am going to set myself some rewards. If at the end of each week I have done 80% of my planned sessions then I will get something that I want, be it pizza for dinner, have a few drinks one night, whatever will motivate me that week.

On a side note you may ask why I am only setting it at 80%? Well this is for two reasons. First, using the principles of SMART goals (I will blog about these at a later date), I need to make the goal realistic. Second, my training program that I have written for myself, is based on the concept that some sessions can be missed. This is something I have learnt from the many training books I have read over the years. If the session missed is a key one then it is rescheduled to a day where a none key session was. It the session was not a none key one, a short easy recovery type one, then it is just missed. Because no more than 20% of sessions fall into this category, then the 80% which are key sessions still get done.

So that's the plan for the next 3 weeks, they say a new habit takes 3 weeks to form, though more ingrained habits take longer. I will check back in to let you know how it goes.

Source: Forming new habits and self discipline