Tuesday 26 May 2009

High Intensity Training for Weight Loss

How effective is high intensity training at promoting weight loss?

If you believe what is generally being written at the moment, the answer would have to be "very effective"!

So, fresh from my success at losing 3kg in 3 weeks, I threw myself into another 3kg in 3 weeks challenge, this time focusing on very high intensity.

My first exposure to this was last Saturday where my workout looked a little like this:
A) 5 mins warm up jog
B) 1 minute hill sprint
C) 1 minute walk downhill
D) 1 minute jog downhill
E) repeat B to D another 5 times
F) 8 reps deadlift
G) 10 press ups
H) 30 seconds rest
I) 8 reps dumbell clean
J) 10 press ups
K) 30 seconds rest
L) 8 reps dumbell straight leg deadlift
M) 10 press ups
N) 30 seconds rest
O) 8 repd dumbell lunge
P) 10 press ups
Q) 30 seconds rest
S) Stretch

At the end of this I felt pretty good. I felt like I'd worked really hard and in a completely different way to my normal 30 minute runs. My legs had been worked much harder than normally through the hill sprints and weights. And my hamstrings (which I've always neglected in the gym - which I think has made me a slow runner) were worked with the straight leg deadlift.

Well that was Saturday. Sunday morning was different...

I woke up and could hardly turn over. My whole body ached. I couldn't believe how much I ached, particularly as the weights I was using were not particularly large (about 40 lbs each dumbell, so only an 80lbs deadlift...). I used to be able to do bicep concentration curls with 40lbs no problem!

So I could get depressed about how much this hurts and how much weaker and how less fit I am now than when I was in my twenties. However, the exact opposite is true! This has shown me:


  • that I'm a long way from how strong I used to be, so I now know I can improve a lot, without having to go beyond what I've already accomplished (admittedly in my twenties
  • the muscle soreness is a classic sign of adaptation. In other words even though I ache all over, I will come out stronger
  • I've found another way of training which is really fun and fast-paced with plenty of variety.


The other news is that I've signed up for a 10k at the end of June. This means that my weekly woekouts will now be something like:

  • Saturday - wctt timetrial
  • Sunday - longish run (getting back up to 10k)
  • Twice in the week - high intensity sessions

As always, I'll let you know how I get on...

Thursday 21 May 2009

Three week weight loss challenge success!

I weighed in this morning at 99.9kg, 20 days after starting my three week weight loss challenge. Therefore, I've lost 3kg! Not quite the 6kg I was hoping for when I first started, but it became clear that that target was neither sensible nor achievable in a sustainable way.

My belt is looser, my 5k time is a bit quicker, I feel better when I see myself in the mirror in the morning - all good!

I think the eating rules which I set out in my Three week weight loss challenge post have a lot to do with it. In fact, those eating rules seem to have generated quite a bit of discussion in the blogosphere.

One of the things I liked about them was that it was very easy to remember them, and therefore live by them. Any book you read on the subject is 150 pages or more of "eat that, don't eat that" with long "do/don't" lists at the back - impossible to memorise! But my handy five rules are so simple that anyone can remember them.

Within the discussion that my eating rules (note that I call them eating rules, not diet rules!) a few good thoughts came out - so I'm going to amend my eating rules (and add a sixth).

Firstly, I wasn't clear when I mentioned no carbs after breakfast. The carbs I was talking about were those calorie-rich carbs (processed and non-processed) like pasta, rice, cereal, potato, cous cous etc. I wasn't referring to other vegetables that also contain carbohydrate.

Secondly, I should have included a rule to always grill, bake, steam or stir fry whenever possible, and don't saute or deep fry.

So, my six golden eating rules for weight loss success are:

1) Lots of water - your cells need it, and your liver needs it (and as your liver controls insulin, sugar metabolism and fat storage, it's a good idea to keep him happy)
2) Not too much alcohol - lots of calories, dehydrates your liver (and makes him unhappy) and makes doner kebabs too appealing to resist
3) Lots of vegetables - generally low calories, and packed with minerals and vitamins and stuff
4) Restrict high-calorie carbs (pasta, rice, cereal, potato, cous cous) other than for breakfast - not for any special reason other than (i) they are packed with calories which you probably don't need at any time other than breakfast, and (ii) when I eat carbs at lunchtime, I feel sleepy in the afternoon
5) Restrict chemicals, additives and 'unnatural foods' (processed foods, any drink which isn't water, tea, or fresh fruit juice) - I'm not saying here that it's impossible for our bodies to deal with chemicals (as some diets try to say) but that they need to be filtered out someway, which puts more pressure on the liver
6) Always grill, bake, steam or stir fry whenever possible, and don't saute or deep fry

I'm now setting myself the next target - another 3kg in 3 weeks - which means I need to weigh 97kg by 12 June - which also happens to be the day before my birthday! I'm also going to be upping my exercise levels over the next few weeks (especially now that the weather is becoming so much better) and have found a couple of great websites/guides which focus on using compound exercises and 'functional' exercises for increasing fitness and strength and burning fat. I'll tell you more next time. Wish me luck!

Wednesday 13 May 2009

Three week weight loss challenge - update

Just a quick update - not going so well at the moment.

After my last post which said that my weight loss was on track, I somehow managed to get all the way back up to 103kg, and now have come all the way back down to 101.3kg.

To meet my challenge, I need to lose 4.3kg in 9 days. Now even I know that would be impossible/reckless.

But I'm taking some comfort out of the fact that I've managed to drop some weight, and aim now to lose another 1.3kg in the next 9 days (which sounds sensible) and will at last get me back into double figures for the first time in probably a year.

Also, I went out for a bike ride around Richmond Park on Sunday. Despite having been held up by cars on three of the fastest stretches, I was able to complete the loop in the third fastest time since I started recording them a few years ago - which was nice.

If the weight loss continues, hopefully I'll be able to beat my best!

Here's something else to throw into this post - I'd very much appreciate your thoughts on it.

As anyone who has read any diet book from the last ten years knows, the experts say that it's not the amount of calories you eat, but what proportion of fat/carbs/protein you eat, or when you eat, or when you starve, or whether you're eating right for your body type, or blood type, or your ancestral hunter/gatherer type, or whether you chew or not, or whether you eat carbs after lunchtime, or whether you eat many small meals throughout the day etc. etc. etc.

The thing I've come to realise is that for every theory, there is a completely counter theory. There are, however, a few things which I think do make sense:
1) Lots of water - your cells need it, and your liver needs it (and as your liver controls insulin, sugar metabolism and fat storage, it's a good idea to keep him happy)
2) Not too much alcohol - lots of calories, dehydrates your liver (and makes him unhappy) and makes doner kebabs too appealing to resist
3) Lots of vegetables - generally low calories, and packed with minerals and vitamins and stuff
4) Restrict carbs other than for breakfast - not for any special reason other than (i) they are packed with calories which you probably don't need at any time other than breakfast, and (ii) when I eat carbs at lunchtime, I feel sleepy in the afternoon
5) Restrict chemicals (processed foods, any drink which isn't water, tea, or fresh fruit juice) - I'm not saying here that it's impossible for our bodies to deal with chemicals (as some diets try to say) but that they need to be filtered out someway, which puts more pressure on the liver.

Other questions I don't have much of an opinion on:
1) Red meat, white meat or fish? No idea. Fish is meant to be good for you but full of pollutants and/or unsustainable. White meat is lower in fat than red, but has less nutrients such as iron. Red tends to have a bit more fat. So I generally eat a mixture
2) Small meals throughout the day, or three standard meals? I always bought the 'small meals keeps your metabolism ramped up' argument, but I'm not so sure... And apparently new research suggests it's not true.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Currently it seems like I'm losing weight with them, it allows me to have evenings out with friends without feeling like an outcast, I have more energy, I'm getting good sleep, and I'm not feeling too hungry or irritable...

Would this work for you?

Thursday 7 May 2009

Weight loss story - day 7 of three week challenge

My three week challenge to lose 6kg in three weeks is going ok at the moment. If I lose another 0.3kg today, then I'll have done 2kg in 1 week which is right on track.

I know that I'm not doing this in a healthy sustainable way, and this is 'crash dieting', but I just feel I need to get at least some control back over what I'm eating.

So basically I'm not eating very much, but still continuing to exercise. On Monday I got my bike around Richmond Park again - in a reasonably respectable time too given the strength of the wind. And last night I hauled my lardy a*s around Kensington Gardens... Slowly, but at least I made it.

I was reflecting on the last time I lost a lot of weight. I probably lost about 12 to 15 kg six years ago when I was going through a nasty break up - she was cheating with someone I thought of as a friend (he was married). I even called him up when we broke up asking him for advice without knowing she might even have been there with him at the time...

Anyway, my appetite was shot, but it did let me lose a lot of weight - which also seemed to help the subsequent dating (!)

I know that I'm not going to get down to that very low level of eating. Certainly not for the couple of months I did it for that time. But what I am finding interesting is that after the first five or six days of feeling very hungry, the body seems to adjust and the severe hunger pains seem to go away, allowing me to control more carefully what I eat.

I'm sure people will think I'm crazy for not trying to lose weight in a more sensible way, but all I know right now is that it seems to be working (even if early days)...

Saturday 2 May 2009

Day 2 of three week weight loss challenge

Wonderful morning for the fat runner to run the 5k Wimbledon Common Time Trial.

Slow time though - over 31 minutes - but pleased he did it.

Unfortunately the scales showed that the fat runner was back to the weight he was a few days ago - probably not a surprise though, given that he went to dinner with his wife last night.

Day 2
Current weight - 103.0kg
Lost - 0.0kg
Weight to lose - 6.0kg

I think I read somewhere that every kg slows you down by about 15 seconds over 5k... So if I manage to lose the 6kg, this should correspond to 90 second benefit - which will get me back under 30 minutes. Which would be nice...

Friday 1 May 2009

Day 1 of three week weight loss challenge

So, after my horrible body fat percentage result, I promised to update you daily on progress towards losing 6kg in 3 weeks.

Day 1
Current weight - 102.7kg
Lost - 0.3kg
Weight to lose - 5.7kg

Plan for weekend (including Monday as it's a public holiday in the UK):

Saturday morning - 5k run, again the excellent Wimbledon Common Time Trial
Sunday morning - 40k bike ride in Richmond Park
Monday - gym session (intervals)

Will try to post my weight over the weekend...