tdp challenge september final

Finished 7/8 tasks, the first time I’ve not achieved 100% completion.

exercise
• run a full 10k // done
• nrolw complete stage 1 // done
• deadlift half my body weight // done
• full pushup // did that one nrolw workout

food

• vegetarian day x4 // done
• quinoa recipe x1 // done

other

• sort gcls videos // sigh, I’m not sure when I’ll get round to this
• 6-word novels x20 // done

TDP challenge September update

Mid-month update.

exercise
• run a full 10k // not yet, may be this weekend
• nrolw complete stage 1 // at s1-6b, 7 to go
• deadlift half my body weight // next weight increase at s1-7a
• full pushup // did that one nrolw workout

food

• vegetarian day x4 // 2 of 4
• quinoa recipe x1 // this week

other

• sort gcls videos // ooops
• 6-word novels x20 // done

september tdp challenge

The “run 50k, do 1000 lunges/squats/abs, track calories every day” challenges were getting repetitive. Gonna try some new ones.

exercise
• run a full 10k
• nrolw complete stage 1
• deadlift half my body weight
• full pushup

food

• vegetarian day x4
• quinoa recipe x1

other

• sort gcls videos
• 6-word novels x20

august tdp challenge final

Final August TDP challenge results — all done.

exercise
• run 50km // 50.11km
• 5k race in under 36mins // 33mins
• weights x8 // 8 of 8
• 1000 squats, lunges, abs // 1034 — since I started NROL I’m also counting deadlifts and step-ups

food

• vegetarian day x4 // 4 of 4
• meet calorie goals 24 days // 24 of 24 — I gave myself a margin of error of 10 calories

other

• organise story outlines // done
• get driver’s licence // done, got a car to go with the licence too

august challenge – update

exercise
• run 50km // 27.05km
• 5k race in under 36mins // 33mins
• weights x8 // 2 of 8
• 1000 squats, lunges, abs // 400

food

• vegetarian day x4 // 2 days
• meet calorie goals 24 days // 11 days

other

• organise story outlines // procrastinating
• get driver’s licence // done

August goals

I want to get back to setting monthly goals. I didn’t reach my goal for GCLS, those last 2-3 pounds are proving extremely stubborn. If anything, I haven’t been watching what i eat as carefully as before and i’ve gained 2 pounds. That said, several people have remarked that I don’t need to lose any more, which suggests to me that I’ve reached, or am close to reaching, my optimum weight. Each person has a default weight that their body is comfortable with, trying too hard to get below that tends to backfire, causing more harm than good. So, I’m not going to stress out too much about it.

I realise I should switch to tracking body fat % instead of weight. So I got a $4.99 body fat caliper. I’m still trying to learn to use it, my BF% range from 22-25%, and according to my scale it’s 30%. Yikes, that’s not good.

So anyway, goals:

exercise
• run 50k
• 5k race in under 36mins (allowance for knee)
• weights x8
• 1000 squats, lunges, crunches

food

• vegetarian day x4
• meet calorie goals 24 days

other

• organise story outlines
• get driver’s licence

9 month health update

Nine months is a good time to update on the Getting Healthy project. I guess I should start with some stats, which is basically 33 pounds / 15kg since October 2008. That’s over 21% of my starting weight.

Yes, I have acted nonchalant about it, saying simple things like, “oh, i just go running” when people comment on the weight loss. But I’d be cheating myself if i didn’t come clean and say, yes, i put a lot of effort into it. And I’m happy and proud of the result.

Been reading a lot of the NYT Health section, and this article about the cost of weight loss resonated. This is what they say about potential cost,

How ready are you? The more committed you are, the less you will need to spend.

The hardest is the $0.00 DIY approach — count calories, exercise, change lifestyle by yourself. This is the approach I took. Registered on tdp, started running. Ate out less, made more salads. I suppose if i had to place a monetary value, it’s the $30 I spent on the Nike+. More about that in a bit.

For those people who need more help than the DIY approach, the costs go up as more help and professionals get involved. Buying a diet or exercise book is low cost, as is joining a group or a low cost gym. But then it gets serious. Hospital programs, personal trainers, nutritionists. There is no end to the amount of money one can throw at the ultimate goal of losing weight.

In MBA school we were taught opportunity costs. There is general consensus that even if we had to spend money now on things like Weight Watchers, exercise equipment, or the perceived increased cost of healthier food, at the end of the day there is a HUGE potential savings in terms of avoided healthcare costs. As one of the commenters said

What’s cheaper — $13.00 a week to attend a lively, educating, and motivating Weight Watchers meeting; or 100.00 a month on cholesterol lowering drugs; insulin or the oral equivalent, blood pressure meds, and other obesity related illnesses?

I didn’t seek out any help or enrolled in any support group. In a way, I was arrogant enough to believe that I had sufficient commitment to motivate myself. Plus, until recently, i viewed this journey as a highly personal and private one. What helped, was that I didn’t set a fixed goal. I didn’t say lose x pounds by y date. I only set a rough target of around 8 to 8½ stone, all i wanted is to get under 120 pounds / 55kg. The key was as little pressure as possible and set small goals. More recently, i’ve given myself more slack in the calories front. If i had a weekend of overeating, then so be it. It’s no big deal.

That said, I’m glad that I’ve found friends who are also on the same journey. I should have known that having support and feedback would result in even more motivation and encouragement. I get a buzz every time I tweet my runs and someone likes or, better, comments, on my fb status. So thank you, friends.

And it brings me to this long, interesting Wired article on the data effect of Nike Plus. I can say it’s the best investment I’ve made in this journey. I don’t go running without it. It’s so simple, giving me great tracking data that satisfies on a deep, deep level. No, it’s not only because I’m a numbers person, an excel geek — 1.2 million runners, 130 million miles run attest to that.

So here is my Nike+ chart. The stats at the bottom say: 109 runs, 69 hours, 620km, 40684 calories burned. More stats: longest run 11.7km, fastest 5k @27.22min. On average i’m running 2 times a week, and I run most on a Monday. To which I say, i’m committed to keeping it up.

lake run

I ran to the lake and back tonight after work. Oh boy, it’s such a great route, I’m at the lake in just over 2km (10mins) and the path is perfect — wide, good surface, not too many people. All in all 5.25km. Mapped the route at run.com so I had a sense of distances. I can see me doing 10km up and down the lakefront easy.

May challenge – final

Exercise and food goals were met. Didn’t do any writing. Still debating whether to set June challenge. Business trip and moving — too many moving parts.

exercise
run 50k || done 62.89km
5k in under 30mins x4 || done
500 crunches || done
500 squats || done

food
vegetarian day x4 || done
meet calorie goal 24 days || done

other
find an apartment! || done
finish writing WS || nope

May challenge – update week 3

Week 3 of the TDP challenge was dominated by the orporate challenge on thursday. OTOH I don’t think the writing is going to happen. What remains to be written is a pivotal love scene and expanding on the bit when the MCs confront the villain. I haven’t been able to write love scenes for a long time — I know i can do it, but just not recently. sigh.

exercise
run 50k || done 54.56km
5k in under 30mins x4 || 3/4
500 crunches || 350/500
500 squats || 350/500

food
vegetarian day x4 || 3/4
meet calorie goal 24 days || 20/24

other
find an apartment! || DONE
finish writing WS || difficult