Progress!

As most of you know, I’ve been running for a couple of weeks now and I finally feel I am getting the hang of it. Yeah, I know, it took me a while :) But like I said in my first post about this subject, running isn’t a thing that comes easy to me. I always thought I couldn’t do it, but hey, here’s a newsflash…..I can!

The first couple of weeks were quite horrible at times though. You have to remind yourself of so much like: keep your arms low and relaxed, breath in and out (duh!) and keep your breathing relaxed and regular, don’t run too fast (you are not running a race!), don’t land on your toes – heels first and so on and so on! A lot of stuff to take in and keep track of, but hey, I am doing it. Hooray! Even my personal (uhum…. Online and not so personal) coach/motivator is telling me I am doing great and that I should keep going!

I am keeping a log of my runs and here is a graph that shows my progress. I started out at fitness level 10 and now I am at 40 after completing one-third of my schedule. Hooray again!

There is a downside though; I am starting to feel better and look healthier but I am gaining weight. That wasn’t supposed to happen :( At first it got me worried a bit but then I realised that it actually made sense. When I started running I stopped doing my other work-outs on the running days. In the first weeks I didn’t run for very long period’s of time (and was eating the same) so I was burning lesser calories then normal. *sigh of relieve* nothing to worry about! Pretty soon I will be burning calories like before and probably even more. I think I’ve to put off buying new clothes for a while :) because like I said, I am gaining weight but I am loosing centimetres already :) Well, isn’t that a nice advantage?!

Weekly finds - part 9

I haven’t been online all that much this week so there isn’t a lot to share.

I did find this video though, not an amusing one, but still IMHO a video that needs to be shared.



After that you might need some cheering up, so take a look at this. Cheerful and colourful paper art by Jen Stark. Just go to the sculpture section.





Or how about this? After the inflatable girlfriend, they have come up with something new…… an inflatable pub. Must be every man’s dream ;)

Half naked Wednesday ;)

Earlier this week I was reading a Dutch magazine called Quest. They used to call themselves a scientific magazine but these days it’s a braintainment magazine. But hey, who cares what it’s called, you are probably here for the nakedness. Well, do I have a surprise in store for you! Drum roll please….Hmmz… not the thing you had hoped for? Well, I am sorry, but you have to admit that it is half (a body) and it is naked (or at least I think so)! Okay fair enough, but what’s it all about, you may think. Well here’s the story.

Like I mentioned above, I was reading this magazine and it had an interesting article about Obesity.We’ve all seen the headlines like “Obesity is becoming top US killer” or “Europeans see obesity increasing”, so it wasn’t like I was reading something new or anything but seeing obesity in action was quite a different story.

The body scan shown above shows the body of a healthy lady age 36. She weighs 54 kilos and her height: 1.65 meters. Her BMI is 20. Below you will find the body scan of an obese person. This lady is 40; she weighs 113 kilos and her height: 1.67 meters. Her BMI is 40.All the yellowy/pinkish/light colours are fat. I was really surprised by the amount of fat in the stomach area. Okay it’s quite “normal” to expect that amount of fat on the outside, but on the inside too? I was a bit surprised. It looks like there is even fat in the eye sockets…… scary! I would never want to look like that! To motive myself I’ve put these pictures up on my refrigerator. A bit scary to look at every day, but fear can be a very good motivator :)

Lose weight and keep it off.

I lost 20 kilo’s (or 44 pounds as they say in other places around the world). I did this some time ago but I’m still proud of the result because after all this time I’m still on my goal weight.

Some hints & tips that might help others:

Don’t diet. Since I don’t believe in diets, I achieved this without one. So, whatever you do, don’t go on a diet. Diets make you lose weight quickly but once you resume your normal eating habits, you gain the weight back quicker then you lost it, plus some extra kilo’s or pounds. I tried and tested that, so I know what I’m talking about. Your best bet is to change your lifestyle, one baby step at a time.

Make your own plan. Specify how much weight you want to lose, set a realistic timeline. Don’t expect to see huge results over night.

Exercise. If you don’t exercise, start now! Try new things. Walk, swim, ride a bike, fitness, run, dance whatever…if you move, you burn calories (your metabolism speeds up) and fat. I figured out what sort of exercise I liked and then made a 30 minute routine out of it. Another way to go is walk. 30 minutes each day will make a great difference. Especially as you, like me, never exercised that much.

Drink water. Drinking water cleans your system. It also gives you a full feeling so you don’t feel so hungry all the time. It’s best to drink 8 glasses or 2 liters a day. If you don’t like plane water, ad some lime or lemon.

Food. Sugar is a big no no! The same goes for fried food and fast food. Vegetables, fish, small portions of meat, fruits and fibers are great. Same goes for spices. Try new things, you might be amazed! Eat smaller portions. If you like big plates stashed with food, get smaller plates. Stop eating when you are full even if there is still food left on your plate. Be aware of every bite that you put in your mouth, taste the food. If you focus on your food you will feel full earlier. And shut down your eating at least two hours before bedtime.

Weigh. Weigh and measure yourself on the same day and the same time every week. Don’t go near the scales if it’s not your weigh day. Your weight may fluctuate on a daily basis so it may only discourage you.

And above all…..see this experience as an adventure and enjoy the ride! Even weight loss can be fun!