Wednesday, March 7, 2012

1% WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE - end of week 9

The road to hell is paved with good intention.

Cop this:




The week's experiment.


Can you lose weight eating spoonfuls of peanut butter?


Answer. No.


So a disappointing week. Sabotage.


I'm going away for a couple of weeks and will report back on the 25th of March.


We'll see.


In the meantime stay tuyned, highly tuned and keep your snout out of the peanut butter jar.



John Miller

Saturday, February 25, 2012

1% PER WEEK WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE - end of week 8

Aaaah, that's better. After a big week, focused on diet, meat/fish/chicken with low density vegables (sic) for most meals and more exercise I can report pleasing results. I'm catching up with the 1% weight loss chart.



This is definitely something I'm finding a tougher assignment that I'd originally bargained for. It doesn't just happen. It requires focus and attention.



I read all these adverts on the internet saying how easy it is to peel off the weight using X, Y of Z diet program. I'm tempted to try them out but believe eating sensibly from the top of the Hourglass.


Hourglass is the most sensible thing to do.
I believe that cutting our bread, biscuits, cake and chips is an essential part of my weight loss strategy. I'm not as pure as the driven snow, but almost, and I feel better for it.



I see adverts in chemist shop window for powders that contain over 30% sugar and bars with about as much energy content as Mars bars and cherry ripes. Why anyone would be buying food from a chemist shop is beyond me. You can't buy pharmaceuticals in a grocery store!



But there again chemist shops sell just about anything to make a buck; - shoes, soap and all manner of confectionery ... The prescriptions are expensive because the chemist shop cartel is protected by the Commonwealth Government.


But I digress. I'm pleased with this week's progress. I've done three good weight training sessions (which I think is helpful) and been on the stepper a number of times as well as running most days.


I've been able to run every day because of my new shoes - well about three months old - Sketcher's Shape shoes. They've thrown me on to the balls of my feet and pretty much eliminated Achilles pain and got rid of all calf pain. They look strange and they weight so much it feels like running in clod hoppers, but it's enabled me to run more than I have for several years. Until the Shape shoes I was tearing calf muscles every second month and putting up with Achilles tendonitis. Gone.


Michelle from across the road recommended them. They cost $100. You'd reckon the podiatrist I went to should have known about them, or the running shoe shop.



If you suffer from Achilles, calf and knee pain, I recommend you get a pair and see whether they are the right sort of shoe for you.



The stepper has been important because I can exercise like buggery without out stressing my legs.




I do have to report some heel pain - hence more time on the stepper.




But I can tell you one thing, (and the anorexic community won't like me saying this) 'nothing tastes as good as thin feels'.




In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned; eat from the top of the Hourglass and exercise like buggery.



John Miller

Saturday, February 18, 2012

1% Weight Loss - End of Week 7

Hmmmmm.


Here's the result





I have to tell you, I thought I'd done better than that this week. Blew out a bit on Valentine's Day but after that stayed on the straight and narrow.


But I look thinner. I feel better. I've got more energy.


However, that doesn't deflect attention away from the fact that the gap between intention and reality is getting larger. I'll just have to be more focused and work harder this week.


I'm certain that getting rid of wheat flour from my diet is a good thing.


And I'm now more convinced than ever that the way to eat is from the top of the Hourglass. If you had meat/fish/chicken and two or three veg (none of which contain over 100Kg/100gms) for every meal you'd continue to lose weight.


Meanwhile the dietecians, (including fat guru Garry Egger) and the supermarketeers are encouraging you to eat cereal for breakfast. The problem with cereal in this country is that most of what we think of as cereal is in fact flour baked up into small, funny shaped biscuits masquarading as cereals.


The NH&MRC recommendation for cereal intake for men is 12 - 24 slices of bread a day for chrissake! You're not going to get thin eating a loaf of bread a day, particularly if you lather it with butter and peanut butter.


What's pleasing is that this week is my 5Km running time started coming down - from 33 minutes to 31.27. Now a 5Km time of 31.27 is nothing to blog about. A good time would be twice Ron Clarke's worlds record of 13.16. My run is on the Stromlo Park track and it's not flat, but 31.27 is miles away from 26.32.


But I'm heartened. I'm getting fitter and can run every day. Until I bought my 'Shape' shoes I kept tearing calf muscles and Achilles tendons. They're very heavy, but that's a small price to pay for being able to run every day. If you've got sore Achilles, calves and knees I'd recommend you get a pair and see how you go. Mine cost $100 from Sketchers at DFO.


One thing I do enjoy doing is exercising with my little running mate, Honey, wonder dog from Canberra. She's loves running. You can join Honey on her Facebook site:


http://www.facebook.com/people/Honey-Miller/


While I'm running she's just walking briskly and cantering - or chasing kangaroos. Maybe George Orwell was right - four legs is better than 2!


In the meantime stay tuned.


John Miller

Saturday, February 11, 2012

1% PER WEEK WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE

Hi, John Miller here.

At the end of week six here are the results of the 1% per week weight loss challenge:

I spent Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Adelaide but ran every morning with my mate, Richard and kept a handle on what I ate. Richard is the fittest man in Australia over 65. He's been running for an hour a day in the Adelaide Hills for close on 40 years. It shows.



The belt is in a notch, so that's good. Nothing tastes as good as thin feels.



Not so good is I'm still behind the target and this week it eased out by 0.1 of Kg.



This forthcoming week will have to be the week of the catch up.



I'll up the exercise to include not only a morning run but 30 minutes on the stepper before tea.



Plus, you may have read that weight training helps with fat loss. They say that long after the weight training session has ended the body keeps burning energy. So this week I'll get in three weight training sessions, come hell or high water.



In the meantime, stay tuned, highly tuned and eat from the top of the Hourglass and exercise like buggery!



I'll report back next Sunday.



John Miller

Sunday, February 5, 2012

FIVE WEEKS REPORT

Well, soon after a rush of blood at the start of the 1% weight loss program, Christine and I drove up to Brisbane and back for about 10 days to see my daughter Lisa, her husband Ian and the two little fellas.

Blame the drink! Blame the interruption to the routine.

I've fallen behind and at the end of 5 weeks here are the results. There was no result for week 2 as I was still away and (deliberately) left the scales of justice at home.

I'll report back at the end of next week.


In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and go to http://www.fitandhealthyonline.com/ for the back to work special offer.



John Miller

Sunday, January 8, 2012

1% Weight Loss Program

1% PER WEEK WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM

People often ask, ‘How much weight can I expect to lose each week?’ I reckon 1% of your body weight sounds about right.

I’ve seen people on the Biggest Looser lose huge amounts of weight in the initial weeks, so I guess the heavier you are, say 140Kg , even though you need to lose a bit more weight each week than someone who weighs, say 70Kg, it’s an achievable target.

You know how to do it.

For starters, exercise more. Do something before each meal. Say to yourself, ‘Don’t exercise, don’t eat.’ It could be something with real vigor or something as useful as a 20 minute walk.

At the same time start eating from the top of the Hourglass. If you eat protein (meat, fish, chicken) with vegetables for every meal, and every day have several glasses of vegetables and fruit that you juiced yourself, after a couple of weeks you’ll have retrained yourself how to eat wisely and given your weight loss program a real kick-start.

Sure it will take a bit of discipline but I know you’ve got the discipline to lose 1% of your weight each week for 12 weeks. It gets easier with every week.

The things to lay off are the garbohydrates - bread, pasta, cake, biscuits, chocolate, ice cream … You won’t die by eliminating these foods from your diet. What will happen is you’ll lose weight, you’ll have less headaches, your blood pressure may come down, you’ll have more energy, it won’t feel like your trousers are ring-barking you.

If you would like to view the weight loss targets click through too:

http://www.hourglassdiet.com/diet-plan/1-percent-per-week-weight-loss-program

You could computerize your own records by creating a spreadsheet, the formula for the cell below the starting weight cell = starting weight cell minus (1% of starting weight cell)


Initially run the program for 12 weeks and see how you go. If by that time you haven't reached your target weight just keep going. The longer you're involved the easier it becomes.

Keeping yourself honest
A lady brought her son to Gandhi and asked him to tell her son to stop eating sugar.

Gandhi said to bring the boy back the next week.

The next week the lady brought the child back and Gandhi told him to stop eating sugar. A month later the lady came back and said 'My child has done what you asked, but why you not tell him to stop eating sugar the first time I came.' 'Lady', said Gandhi, “a week earlier I didn’t know if I could stop eating it myself'.

In keeping with the spirit of Gandhi I've resolved to keep myself honest by recording my weight each week for the next 12 weeks.

On the starting date, the 1st of January 2012 I weighed 86.6Kg.

At the end of the first week, the 8th of January I weighted 85.0Kg. The target was 85.7, so I've created a buffer against excess in the second week.

Each week I'll keep you posted on how I'm going.

You are invited to record your score each week by submitting a comment to this blog. If you want to protect your good name you can use a nick name , or you could really put pressure on yourself by using your real name.

I'll leave it up to you.

In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and set yourself a weight loss target; 1% per week until you’ve reached what you reckon is your ideal weight.

If you’d like a more detailed plan go to http://www.hourglassdiet.com/ and http://www.completefitnessworkout.com/

John Miller
www.hourglassdiet.com

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Year Resolutions

Fat loss and fitness are always high on the list of New Year resolutions.

It’s almost intuitive. You get past the Christmas season and come to the sudden realization of what poor shape you’re in and resolve to do something about it.

Maybe you’ve been thinking about getting back into better shape before Christmas and haven’t had the brain space to deal with it. Maybe you’ve been too busy, too absorbed in other things or distracted.

Christmas is the divide between the years, in fact it’s become the great yearly watershed between what’s happened in the past and what you’d like to happen in the future. That’s why it’s such a significant occasion.

A huge slice of the world stops on the 25th of December each year. ‘Sorry can’t do it until the beginning of February, it’s Christmas.’ End of story. No ifs, no buts. Christmas trumps all excuses.

If we didn’t have Christmas we’d be running around like headless chooks, we’d never have the urgency to finish things off, tidy our desks, take a few days off, sleep in and take naps, slow down, read a book, spend time with family ...

Christmas gives us the freedom to do those things without feeling guilty.

But what happens as soon as you slow down? The relaxation response kicks in and stimulates the process of reconnection with your Self, particularly that part of your Self that’s closest to you, your body. You take stock. You weigh up your position.

The Self thrives on time, attention, affection and thought.

If you’ve let yourself go, if the symptoms of metabolic, musculo-skeletal and psychological dysfunction are staring you in the face you begin to ‘wake up to your Self’.

Tension starts to build up to the point where you either resolve to do something to improve your health status, or you don’t.

A lot of people are stimulated sufficiently to make a few resolutions.

The starting point to losing weight it to make the distinction between good food and junk food. Get that sorted out and you’ll start eating more of the food that’s good for you and less of the food that’s not. You’ll be on the way to getting back closer to your ideal weight.

If you’re going to tackle the metabolic dysfunctions - of which being over weight is the most obvious symptom - you’ll need to eat less junk food and up your energy expenditure level, including aerobic activity and strength activity.

Of course the secret to improving your aerobic activity is to do it in the morning before work - with other people.

I run three mornings a week with three other blokes from our street and Frank who lives around the corner. I can tell you one thing, if it wasn’t for the commitment to the group there are many mornings when I’d still be lolling around in bed at 6.30am instead of getting ready to go for a run.

Do yourself and your neighbours a favour, organise a group from your street or your neighbourhood.

If that’s too hard, organise a group at work. The chances of it happening will be enhanced if you do it in the next couple of weeks.

Don’t forget your strength training program. Whilst there are a few exercises like situps and pushups you can do at home, going to the gym makes eminent sense. That way you’ll improve your all round muscular development, and because lean muscle burns more energy it will help you lose weight.

For some people New Year resolutions are a bit like castles in the air. Just having the picture in your mind might not be enough.

Emerson said ‘If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.’

Underpinning your resolve by writing down your resolutions is the foundation to achieving them. Post them in a place where they stare you in the face, somewhere like the side of your bathroom mirror.

Then gather the support of people around you by inviting them to be part of your fat loss and fitness program. You’ll do them a big favour as well.

Now take advantage of the special offer to obtain your copy of the Complete Fitness Workout and the Hourglass Diet.

Here's the link to the New Year Resolutions Special Offer

http://www.fitandhealthyonline.com/new-year-resolutions-2012/default.html

In the meantime stay tuned, highly tuned and resolve to turn those New Year resolutions into reality.

John Miller