March, march take me there!

March is well underway and I am very happy with the current progress, in all areas.

 "Including the gold - even though I have not mentioned it very much."

However, this just means that I am ready to step it up further - to do more.


I have been thinking about this for some time, because more workout = more muscles. This, in turn, may make the weight loss effect seem diminished due to muscles weighing more than fat.
But in the end, I think it is an overall good idea to increase the work-out slightly.

So here is what I think, for now:

                     Cross Trainer      

Time (Minutes):      20 -> 20

Strides per minute:     170 -> 180

Calories:                     240 -> 250

                     Shoulders

Weight (kg): 40 -> 45

Repetitions: 3 x 10 -> 3x10

                     Chest Press

Weight (kg): 60 -> 70

Repetitions: 3 x 10 -> 3x10

                     Butterfly

Weight (kg): 40 -> 45

Repetitions: 3 x 10 -> 3x10

                      Back

Weight (kg): 55 -> 60

Repetitions: 3 x 10 -> 3x10

                      Lats

Weight (kg): 75 -> 80

Repetitions: 3 x 10 -> 3x10

                      HIIT 

Time (Minutes):      10 -> 10 

Intervals:            5 -> 5

Strides per minute:     170 -> 180

Calories:                     110 -> 120

 

It is a basic weight increase, for now. I say "for now" because thinking about it got me interested in the difference between increasing weight and increasing reps.
More research will be conducted and I will keep you updated!

Hindsight - numbers! \o/

To be honest:

Words are very

Unnecessary

It is said that a picture says more than a thousand words!

Yup, that's right.

I started at 145 - After one month, 137 kilos was my weight.

This means that the target for the end of March should be 130.5 kg, if going by the average that I originally set up.

Doable?

"Hell yeah!"

"Also, I should really think of perhaps setting up a chart for this."

Hindsight - part 2

For this second part, I want to look back at what I have actually eaten throughout the month.
To just get a general overview of what I have given up and what has been an improvement.

As mentioned at the start, the diet is a major part of the challenge - and let me tell you this:

"It has not been easy!"

 The original plan was to cut down on carbohydrates. To achieve this, I had to minimize the intake of:

• Pasta
• Bread
• Rice
• Potatoes/fries
• Sugar

As big of a deal as this seems to be, it was actually not too bad. From day one, I managed to replace my breakfasts with meat/vegetable wrap and coffee.

"Yeah, wraps are bread and do contain carbs, but very little. Like I mentioned in the start:

 I am not going overboard with this - but rather gradually adding changes"

For lunch, I started havin chicken salads. It consists of vegetables, chicken and cajun sauce.

"Alright, good one - perhaps the cajun sauce may be a bad choice as it is slightly sweet."

For the evenings, I began eating something small, if anything at all. During most days, I was tired enough to just come home and fall asleep. But when I did eat - it came down to slices of meat or some woked vegetables.

"Seriously, though - the wok has got to be my new best kitchen friend during this time!"

Alright, so far so good, but this is a working week. Weekends, on the other hand, have proven to be the main challenge.

Why? 

Because of the lack of distractions.

You see, during the normal days work is keeping your mind busy. When you are at home, you got the computer and some games or movies. For me, it felt like something was missing and I actually did find myself scouring the kitchen for some snacks during the weekends.
It really is as my friend Bokkle told me - you go to the fridge when you're bored.


To handle the weekends, I had to come up with a way to vary things.
Thus, I started to make some different kinds of foods, even though not optimal, I can allow a bit of carbs during weekends.

• Steak & salad
• Asian stir fry wok & chicken
• Wholewheat pasta & turkey sausages
• Meat Canelloni
• Tomato and Basil soup
• Spicy noodle soup - you know, that kind that students live off.

It does bring a bit of a change and I can still enjoy the foods I like, with just some small alternations to the side orders.
But it has not been perfect, mistakes were made - where I caved to the needs that are so common nowadays. But that's a whole other story.

So far this has worked out well and I have been able to slowly adjust my lifestyle over this past month. I am really happy this is working out and the motivation is still there. 

Now, with all this talk of progress - isn't it time to show some of it?

I think it is!