Having previously battled with my weight on and off and coming close to making some decent progress a couple of years ago when I first bought my Concept 2 rowing machine I've decided to make a a concerted effort again to shed some of my excess weight.
This will probably turn into a but of a ramble but I plan on posting back periodically and having somewhere to post for inspiration (or for congratulations when it all goes to plan!) will probably help!
I'm 27, 6'1 and currently weigh 232lbs giving me a BMI of just over 30.
I bought my Concept 2 in 2009 knowing that I'd most likely find having something I could do at home more sustainable than visiting the gym. Coupled with an effort to eat more healthily I had a fairly successful 6 months during which I managed to reduce my weight from 257 to 224 lbs.
My 2009 progress:
(the straight diagonal lines were my targets of between 1-2lbs per week)
I was really happy with this but after going on holiday and then moving house failed to get back into the swing of things. I've made a couple of half-hearted attempts to get going again over the following 2 years but as you can see haven't really managed and find myself after another holiday weighing in at 8lbs more than my lowest point from before.
My initial plan over the next month is to undo that, and then I aim to shed somewhere in the region of a further 28 lbs. I don't have an exact target weight in mind, I just want to be generally fitter and healthier, and losing a few inches off of my waist will be an added bonus.
I'd say most of my success before was down to watching what I was eating, as the 3 x 30 mins rowing sessions I was doing per week were never going to make a huge difference, but no doubt helped with my general fitness.
I intend to row a little more this time and have put together a 22 week plan which starts with a few weeks of longer steady pieces before mixing in some HIIT sessions. I started on Sunday with a 2 x 25' UT2 session , did a 5.6km charity run with some colleagues on Wednesday, and rowed for 50 minutes of UT2 today. I wasn't sure I'd manage today as I was suffering with a little delayed onset muscle soreness, but actually, having got on with it I felt better afterwards. I'll be doing a similar session tomorrow. The run isn't something I plan on repeating often - quite happy with the rowing (must have a high boredom tolerance
) and will be planning on doing 3 sessions a week.
In terms of diet, to start with I'm targeting 2000 kcals per day. I've chosen a pretty arbitrary set of nutrient splits just to give me something to aim for, although don't necessarily intend on hitting these exactly - I proved to myself last time that regardless of the macronutrient split, as long as I consume less than I use, I'll make progress. Perhaps in the future I'll look to be a little more strict, but for now, I want something sustainable and which I know works for me.
I tend to cook most things from scratch myself rather than buying pre-prepared food. I also find it easier to cook up a big portion of something like Bolognese and then split it into portions to use again later rather than cook from scratch every time, but am being mindful of the ingredients, calculating portion sizes etc the first time so that I have some fairly accurate numbers to work with.
A typical day this week looks like this. I'm actually finding I really need to eat a tiny bit more to meet my consumption target. I assume it would be best to add more to my breakfast - I've always struggled to make time to eat in the mornings and skipped breakfast for many years but am making an effort now to eat something every day. Maybe I should eat a little more cereal and add a banana...
Some would probably say I'm maybe too heavy on the carbs from the bread and pasta, but this seems to have worked for me previously so for the time being I'll stick with it. The sandwiches for lunch aren't ideal but I generally eat at my desk and they're quick and easy.
Luckily I don't drink too frequently so avoiding alcohol although not always easy (occasional work events etc) isn't too much of a challenge. Coffee is my biggest vice (and I've always loved it with lots of milk!)
I'd love eventually to feel a bit more confident about myself, use a gym, swimming pool, be out and about more on a bike etc and hopefully making these first few steps (again) and sticking with it (for longer) will give me the push I need to embrace a more healthy longer term lifestyle.
I plan on posting back periodically with progress updates... please feel free to comment and offer advice!
This will probably turn into a but of a ramble but I plan on posting back periodically and having somewhere to post for inspiration (or for congratulations when it all goes to plan!) will probably help!
I'm 27, 6'1 and currently weigh 232lbs giving me a BMI of just over 30.
I bought my Concept 2 in 2009 knowing that I'd most likely find having something I could do at home more sustainable than visiting the gym. Coupled with an effort to eat more healthily I had a fairly successful 6 months during which I managed to reduce my weight from 257 to 224 lbs.
My 2009 progress:
(the straight diagonal lines were my targets of between 1-2lbs per week)
I was really happy with this but after going on holiday and then moving house failed to get back into the swing of things. I've made a couple of half-hearted attempts to get going again over the following 2 years but as you can see haven't really managed and find myself after another holiday weighing in at 8lbs more than my lowest point from before.
My initial plan over the next month is to undo that, and then I aim to shed somewhere in the region of a further 28 lbs. I don't have an exact target weight in mind, I just want to be generally fitter and healthier, and losing a few inches off of my waist will be an added bonus.
I'd say most of my success before was down to watching what I was eating, as the 3 x 30 mins rowing sessions I was doing per week were never going to make a huge difference, but no doubt helped with my general fitness.
I intend to row a little more this time and have put together a 22 week plan which starts with a few weeks of longer steady pieces before mixing in some HIIT sessions. I started on Sunday with a 2 x 25' UT2 session , did a 5.6km charity run with some colleagues on Wednesday, and rowed for 50 minutes of UT2 today. I wasn't sure I'd manage today as I was suffering with a little delayed onset muscle soreness, but actually, having got on with it I felt better afterwards. I'll be doing a similar session tomorrow. The run isn't something I plan on repeating often - quite happy with the rowing (must have a high boredom tolerance
) and will be planning on doing 3 sessions a week.In terms of diet, to start with I'm targeting 2000 kcals per day. I've chosen a pretty arbitrary set of nutrient splits just to give me something to aim for, although don't necessarily intend on hitting these exactly - I proved to myself last time that regardless of the macronutrient split, as long as I consume less than I use, I'll make progress. Perhaps in the future I'll look to be a little more strict, but for now, I want something sustainable and which I know works for me.
I tend to cook most things from scratch myself rather than buying pre-prepared food. I also find it easier to cook up a big portion of something like Bolognese and then split it into portions to use again later rather than cook from scratch every time, but am being mindful of the ingredients, calculating portion sizes etc the first time so that I have some fairly accurate numbers to work with.
A typical day this week looks like this. I'm actually finding I really need to eat a tiny bit more to meet my consumption target. I assume it would be best to add more to my breakfast - I've always struggled to make time to eat in the mornings and skipped breakfast for many years but am making an effort now to eat something every day. Maybe I should eat a little more cereal and add a banana...
Some would probably say I'm maybe too heavy on the carbs from the bread and pasta, but this seems to have worked for me previously so for the time being I'll stick with it. The sandwiches for lunch aren't ideal but I generally eat at my desk and they're quick and easy.
Luckily I don't drink too frequently so avoiding alcohol although not always easy (occasional work events etc) isn't too much of a challenge. Coffee is my biggest vice (and I've always loved it with lots of milk!)
I'd love eventually to feel a bit more confident about myself, use a gym, swimming pool, be out and about more on a bike etc and hopefully making these first few steps (again) and sticking with it (for longer) will give me the push I need to embrace a more healthy longer term lifestyle.
I plan on posting back periodically with progress updates... please feel free to comment and offer advice!
