How I made better use of a calorie tracker app

The run up to my marathons this autumn has had many ups and downs, and I thought I would share one of my better 'discoveries'. I have been using a calorie tracker app MyFitnessPal for a long time now (I first blogged about it in 2011 - "Calorie counting no really") - it is as far as I know one of the most popular. Every now and then I find more people I know are using it.

You might be wondering... "So what? People use it to keep their calorie intake in check?" Yes, of course this is its primary function, and one that I have made much use of in the last few years. I have set it up to loss weight slower or faster (once even to maintain weight) and I discovered that if I set it to lose relatively steeply that over the course of several weeks I got increasingly tired, with feelings of zero energy. Granted this could have been any number of things, but what I discovered lately is the most likely cause - hidden activity!

What is it that I am labelling hidden activity? Well the tracker does a great job of logging your training, your food intake, your body metrics, and your baseline activity levels. It is in the last one that I found I had issues. The baseline activity asks for your job type / daily activity levels. Upon discovering that my smartphone was tracking my steps (yup, some phones have pedometers in them that you would struggle greatly to switch off apparently - some suggested you can't turn them off!), reasoning if it was there I might as use it I linked this pedometer to the myfitnesspal app.

Bingo! I now have a day to day gauge of how active I have been and thus a better feel of my calorie 'needs' - some days I have had to pack a bit of extra food down so that I am not in crazy sized deficits. What was happening before the tracker was that when I started a training plan I would also start walking to work when I could, taking the stairs, walking the dog a bit further each day, etc. and making no allowance for it over and above the baseline option I had ticked in the app. So when I was hitting my targets I was more often than not in big deficits leading to the tiredness, grumpiness and increasing energy deficit.

The moral of this story is thus - if you track calories for restriction make 110% sure you have a good handle on just how much activity (including and on top of training) you really are doing.

Over 9 weeks before the marathon I dropped 10 lbs, and unlike in the past have not seen any of the niggles, grumps, and fatigue in the process by linking in my pedometer. Yup I dislike technology's ever increasingly pervasive intrusion into day-to-day lives, but if you are going to utilise things like lifestyle apps make sure you view them 'in the round' and use them intelligently (if only so that way they work so much better at the job you have tasked them with).

Breaking out of a running rut

30 days to go until my first autumn test – that’s right I have a 10k race in a months time even with my mojo still lost in the woods somewhere! Better than that from there I have a 'race' every other weekend until the end of September... it will be either boom or bust with my running mojo by the end of that period.

I am pinning a few hopes on the theory that immersing myself in things will help shake the junk out of my system and bring about a good autumn / winter of running and training in general. At the moment I am doing just about everything that any reasonable running magazine article might suggest to break out a rut...

1. Running for fun not goals.
2. Eating better.
3. Trying new things in running training.
4. Running with a friend.
5. Joined a club (I am stretching the definition to include the parkrun experience).
6. Building / changing routine (specifically by trying to get into a better sleep pattern).
7. Incorporating targets, such as races to shape and direct training.

Did I leave anything out that would also help?

WoW: Racing nervous? I can recommend a blog post for that

Rather than wittering on Wednesday I have swapped in a recommendation Wednesday (which isn't as catchy, but might be more informative).

I saw this post by Amanda on her blog / website RunToTheFinish this week....

9 Best Ways to Manage Race Day Nerves 

My most noticeable race day nervous sign is yawning! I start to yawn to get more oxygen probably as a result of not being very relaxed in the start pen. Those around me must think I've either just popped out of bed or actually find the whole race thing quite dull.

While I'm at this recommending thing an older post that caught my eye a while back that encompasses a lot of what Amanda's blog is about...

61 Lessons from 2000 Blog Posts 

Some blogs are just a mine of information, advice, good vibes, and so are worth recommending.

I am finding my way back into my blog after quiet a while away, and trying to find a bit of computer / life balance. So my next mission is to track down some images to brighten the place up again.

Type II diabetes - reduce your risk

I am planning to run the Berlin marathon in aid of Diabetes UK and a few weeks ago I picked up one of their information sheets in a local supermarket. So I thought I would pass on what I read, and it is in the most part copied from the flier - but I am thinking they really wouldn't mind a little blatant palagrism in a the name of a good cause.

Apparently in the U.K. there are 7 million people at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Which equates to approximately 11% of the population*.

Those at most risk:-
Anyone overweight especially anyone with a large tummy.

Those who may have a higher than average risk:-
People of Black African, Caribbean and South Asian origin. As well as those over 40 (or over 25 if you are South Asian).

Other risk indicators are:-
Having a parent, brother or sister with diabetes.
Having ever had high blood pressure, a heart attack, or a stroke.
Having a mental illness for which you have taken medication.
Women, having had polycystic ovaries, gestational diabetes, or a baby weighing over 10 pounds.

Lower your risk:-
The better news is that by eating a healthy balanced diet, keeping active and managing your weight can significantly reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes.

To find out more about Diabetes UK and how we care for, connect with and campaign on behalf of everyone affected by, and at risk of, diabetes, visit www.diabetes.org.uk or call 0845 123 2399.

If you would like to support the work of this fantastic charity visit their site or if you like go to my JustGiving page for my Berlin marathon run at www.justgiving.com/Andrew-BerlinMarathon

* - based upon the UK Office of National Statistics 2011 census estimation that just over 63 million people reside in the U.K.

Friday Fix - Possibly the 'smallest' tiny tip-bit of 2012

"Small cup, will travel!"...  

...the weirdest bit of health advice I think I read during all of last year was to get a smaller cup / glass for your desk (office or home).

The idea being that you then find you have to make more frequent trips to the water cooler / kitchen to top-up and refresh your cup, and that in so doing you make yourself more mobile through the day, you break off from screen starring more often giving your eyes a rest from eye-strain, and that it leads to a greater probability of interacting with people you work with by becoming more social, also perhaps even burn more calories through the work week.

I think it was from an office based tips list that I stumbled across online - though I sadly don't remember the source of this simple sage advice. Now because as I said I don't remember the specific source of this nugget I can't remember what they were pushing as the prime reason to get a smaller cup - I fear it may have been the calories thing, but I'm going to use rose tinted hindsight and suggest that mobility and stretching during your day helps keep you loose and active.

Whatever the case I found it it is useful and actually seems to be having an effect in as far as I end the day less stiff, tired and knotted from desk working.

Give it a try - "from small things big things one day come...", and all that :-)

Motivation Monday - Running advice and cook books

The other day my wife proudly told me that this month we had tried 3 recipes from her recent copy of a food magazine, apparently this represented an unusually high number. Each copy that arrives in our post box gets diligently read cover to cover and during the process little sticky tabs or bits of paper sprout from the top edge of various pages. Eventually at a meal time a while later I find myself 'testing' a new meal.

Pondering this for a while it dawned on me that this is entirely the way I use running magazines and books, I don't as it happens use sticky tabs like my wife does with her magazines. I read whole magazines and often cover-to-cover but will often times only keep a small part of each that over time build up to a pile of knowledge that fits my running, my training or my ambitions. Then perhaps with hindsight if I was as organized as my wife cook books I would get a little more value out of the columns I read?!?

Sad tale of 'sad' sites hiding in the blogger stats

I wouldn't say that I hang on the every click, but I do check the blogger stats page when I log in to get a feel if there is anybody out there (no, not in an alien way - or was that just me drifting off into other uses of that phrase?). Of late I had been pretty pleased with myself because through the year I have had a pretty regular (though not huge) monthly count... only I have discovered the vast majority were probably eronious sites trawling for some kind of business. I am not going to give the site names here as it is really just to give them a little more oxygen to breath if I do, but I will pass on a little info that I found.

The basic message is IF YOU SEE STRANGE ADDRESSES OR LINKS IN YOU BLOGGER STATS DON'T CLICK THEM, which of course is a fairly applicable mantra for large parts of the web. If you really want to know where these 'visiters' are coming from put a piece of the address only into a search engine and you'll see a site synopsis (again don't click through) or perhaps a forum article where other web users have described their experiences with the erroneous site/s.

How does it work? Well apparently low hit blogs are targeted as we are more likely to see the links and follow them back to source, bigger more popular blogs lose these in the tens, hundreds or thousands of genuine visitors if the sites even bother stinging them.

What harm? Well here I have to say I am not entirely sure, I get the impression they just want the afore mentioned web oxygen (people visiting their sites so they get sponsor monies). There may be sites that have more 'viscous' intentions though so all the more reason to follow the mantra.

Funnily enough from what I read third party sites that track your traffic for you are better able to give truer stats as they don't see or register them. These links are, in a sad way, for bloggers eyes only and for bloggers to fall foul of if they think "oh, that's cool a new site has me listed in another country wonder if they list many sites like mine?" and then click through to them.

I can only really refer to these sites as 'sad' - if the sleaze (and yes it is often 'those' sites) can't generate enough traffic from the titillating garbage they contain from genuinely interested nutters then just what they gain from a few earnest bloggers tripping into their traffic stream I can't fathom. Some parts of the Internet amaze and inspire, other parts well mmmm, just depress the average human being.

Diary - sunny, windy, high broken cloud. Rest day from training. I am happy that I might have avoided the above nonsense, and hope any real readers don't get stuck in these traps. Although unhappy that it seems that the little bit of fun in the stat page reports has completely gone.

An A to Z of being new to running

A - addiction - be prepared for what could well become the healthiest (though probably most obsessive) addiction you are ever likely to develop. Quickly you'll understand why running friends go on about the 'buzz' of running.

B -  beginning - rapidly it will become clear that beginning to run will lead to a great many other beginning moments, everything from training plans to racing to diet schemes.

C - clothes collection - beware that after not very long you will likely begin to gather something of a clothing hoard. Don't be surprised when you find yourself considering an extra kit for when the other is in the wash, one for wet weather, one for cold weather, one for cross-training, and all this besides race t-shirts if you start signing up.

D - DOMS - you will come to understand the ebb and flow of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). Generally 36 to 48hours after a training session the aches will peak and let you know just how much work you really did.

E - education - I found myself becoming an avid consumer of running magazines, websites and blogs, finding out all I could about the methods and processes of running.

F - fun - does this really need explaining?

G - gels - you may never have heard of them, seen them or tasted anything quite like them. Useful for energy during long events, experiment, test, and remember there are a few alternatives to the sticky gunge (jelly beans, energy bars, and so forth).

H - health - it is everywhere just how unhealthy various parts of the World are, the health benefits of running are too numerous to list and will be very individual to you.

I - injury - kind of ironic that I could follow health with injury as in some respects they often go hand in hand in a kind of balancing act. Never be shy about seeking advice and help with any issue, niggle or even drama. If they come they may set you back, but the bounce back might make things feel all the sweeter. Having an injury often heightens your realisation of just where your running has taken you down the paths of health and healthy addiction.

J - joy - completing any aspect of running can fuel feelings of joy, not just the finish line of a 'big' race. Completing your training loop faster than ever, running up that hill without slowing, realising your waistline has shrunk, that shiny new pair of trainers... and on and on

K - kit - no not clothes again, this kit is for gadgets (heart rate monitors, watches, phones, music players, GPS, packs, bottles, and so on). I defy anyone you runs even for a few weeks to not fall into the arms of at least some of these 'must haves', truth is a lot might not be actually necessary but sometimes the stuff just validates that "yes, I am a real runner"-type mantra.

L - legs and lungs - very rapidly you'll find that your whole system is required, strong legs don't get very far without good lungs. It is that very holistic sense of your full body in motion that might be that source of simple primal feel good factor.

M - mileage monitoring - one way or another the calculation of distance will take up meaningful portions of your spare thinking time, before, during and after runs.

N - nutrition - quickly you realise that timing food all wrong can have awful effects during and after a run.

O - ouch - yes, ouch, it will hurt, does hurt... sometimes... other times not at all.

P - physiotherapy - make an acquaintance with a good physiotherapist, even if you are never properly in need of one for medical reasons they can help prepare your body and revive your body as your runs get longer and longer... and longer.

Q - quitting - there will be days when you'll want to quit, but these will be balanced and cancelled out by the joys, fun and gains of running on amazing run days.

R - repetition - I am not going to be coy about it there will be no getting away from repetition, unless you can goad your route finder into a total new route everyday.

S - stretching - you will read all manner of articles about stretching "do this", "don't do that", "do it before", "do it after",... there appears no definitive. I have found that moving (dynamic) stretching is great before and that continuing to move afterwards aids recovery. Sitting on the couch for an hour immediately before or especially after a run is a sure way of making your body ache like you've never known.

T - trainers - they say that the only thing you need to get out running is a suitable pair of trainers / training shoes. It is only when you start running that the World of options will begin to dazzle and confuse. Seek out sound advice and go to a store that offers a good fitting service. Good shoes may cost a bit more than their fashion counterparts but then think how much your ankles, knees or hips will cost you if they wear out.

U - unusual - at first the whole thing can feel very unusual and frankly running several times a week for months can on the face of it seem odd. Your friends / colleagues may single you out for "why are you doing that?" type comments, which can delay the feeling that running is that usual thing you do.

V - variety - not only the spice of life as the saying goes, but also the spice of running. Don't plug away at the same route all the time, explore, investigate parts of your region / area. All best done with a training buddy, the conversations you'll have on their own will get the variety going.

W - weather - although you thought you complained about the weather about as much as the next person your appreciation of the hows, whys and whens of the forecasting art will expand many fold as you look at your plan, look at the forecast and then work out just what clothes you'll need in the week ahead. Moreover you'll be surprised how weather hardened you'll quickly become, running in the rain is often actually very pleasant.

X - x-training - okay, so I cheated an 'x' in here, but you might find that running gets you back in the squash court, the swimming pool, the football pitch, the gym. Look at all the things you do in different sports as training to run and running as training for sports and x-training (cross-training) in effect becomes a habit not a chore.

Y - youth - re-gain and maintain months and years of your life.

Z -  zzzzzzzzzz - volume of sleep is never to be under-estimated. Get enough and you'll be powering along. The best part as I have found is that sleep is often easier to achieve, deeper and more restful as a result of training / running.

I could go back and entirely re-write this with new choices and therein lies the best part of being new to running (or an regular runner) access to a whole new life vocabulary deepening and reinforcing that joy of being on the move. 

Motivation Monday - Twitter - uses and abuses: a motivational tool?

There are a great many things written about social media, its positives, its negatives, its intrusions and so forth. However, I have found in two walks of my life that pitched right Twitter at least can be used as a tool for motivation. That's right 'used' for 'motivation', I did put those words together. It is true to say that things can take over your time or your life if they become too important to you, and this is something oft thrown at many social media outlets. I 'use' twitter to get me fired up, I follow people (mostly sports people) that inspire or fire me into doing more.

I think you might know where I borrowed this image from - Twitter.com

"Easy follow a couple of TV health and fitness gurus" - well not quite, they are useful to follow but often they are busy promoting themselves and their TV / business products along with the wisdom - all fine if you don't mind skipping 60% of their output. I've found it more useful to follow sports people involved in what they do, and enjoy seeing how they get up to speed before and during events. Now this is only a window on activities, they aren't going to tweet their training programs for all to see!

Collage / 'rogues' gallery call it what you will of some of the sporting folk I follow on Twitter
- the likes of Lance Armstrong, Victoria Pendleton, Mark Hunter, Amy Williams,
Drew Ginn... and these aren't even half of my Twitter inspiration feed ;-)

The part that is perhaps most useful in following a sporting hero is that you often get the sense of how they fit life around sport and how passionate they are about what they are doing. By following you get an impression of a real person with the same real motivations and motivational issues anyone might face in taking on challenge. It is in some senses akin to reading a biography that gets you fired up, only in real time at 144 characters a time. There is something by the way more deeply satisfying about immersing in an amazing biography for inspiration.

So I try (though I admit I sometimes fail) to keep my twitter account sensible, to follow positive sports people, to delete feeds that annoy, and to use the media as something to motivate me. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you too. I use it as a newspaper... only with a bunch of good news rather than actual newspapers energy sapping snipping, harping and representations (though you do occasionally get a bit of that in Twitter too).

Oh, almost forgot, the other area I 'use' twitter for is work, I use it to keep in touch with the latest happenings and goings on in my work world. Following trade magazines and journal, superstars in the field, news outlets and so forth.

Personal lessons from training and running

There are about a million and ten things in life that are apt to sink your best efforts it is knowledge and wisdom to turn your back on them. With time (call it experience) it gets easier to discount the distractions and work with the attractions of a challenge and goal. I don't intend to be 'age'ist' but this for me has become easier with age. For example, I know that training plans are often designed for the ideal - that being the person who could really build their time around a training plan - and that I will have to accommodate and adapt most plans to fit my life. In the beginning this would drive me crazy with thoughts akin to "I didn't do all the sessions I'll be rubbish", now I am far more mellow about how I can swerve the distractions of not following a prescribed plan.

Browsers can on occasion get congested with open running searches

These days I work with hybrid plans, built from two or three (or more) sources that assemble into something that works for me. I don't always get it right (recent injuries testament to that) but I do keep moving in the right direction. In the beginning I wouldn't take advice all that much to heart, now with experience (age) I eat up advice hungrily and at times can't get enough! I read so many running blogs talking about marathons in the build up to my first to give myself as much of a heads up as possible. A younger me would have looked up a training plan, followed it until my legs fell off and not given a great deal of thought to learning from the tales off the efforts of others. I would, if you like, try to write 'the book' along the way rather than read it before setting out.

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.netDoing running homework is a must for me

From what I have written above you might think "okay, reckless kid that grew up", well no I have always been fairly cautious in my approach to a lot of things. I believe that, where as I would have followed one script and bailed if it looked like the wrong one, I have simply developed ways and means of mixing / adapting scripts together to get the result. I would not have knowingly slowed to walk several times in the marathon had I not through an acquired knowledge understood the intrinsic lesson of a lot of running blogs, books, articles - "keep the final goal in mind but however you get there enjoy it!". Above all else the journey is what may well lead me to the start line of another marathon - older, more experienced, more prepared (mental and physically) for sure - more aware, more evolved, keener for the joy of a journey seen to completion for definite.

Goal choice can give you more than you expect

There are a million and one ways to succeed, there are undoubtedly many more ways to fail. Either way lessons are learned and we move on. The hardest part of success or failure (essentially undertaking a task), is choosing what to do in the first place. Selecting a goal is one of the more difficult things in life for many people. Many set a bunch of goals at New Years Eve, just because that's a habit in some societies. The choices of those goals and goals set throughout the year are often deferred, they are not wholly driven from within.

"I will lose 20lbs", "I will quit smoking", "I will exercise more", "I will join a gym", "I will take up a new hobby"....

These kinds of goals all too often are fed by peer pressure, by perspectives based around the media, and are things our societies say we 'should' do. Real goals, and often ironically those most likely to succeed, are those we derive from within ourselves. The ones that bubble up, that 'come out of no where', the ones we wake up one morning and just do. How often do you hear someone say, "I tried that for many years, then one day I just kind of did it and I've been doing it ever since". The goal may have been attempted many different ways until then until a different angle / impetus materialised from within themselves.

Choosing a goal though however we make it happen is just plain difficult. Lives are built around frameworks that mean we can't all simply decide to get up, train for a period, and then go climb Mount Everest. Negotiation and planning sit behind the choice of most goals, even in choosing to get out and run a 10k road race. Whether we need to fit around work, family, or social commitments we need to choose goals with a degree of balance.

By this point you might believe I am about to imply that these 'pressures' on goal choice are negative, suggest that we'd all feel better if we could do whatever we want whenever we want. Ah no, I am not going that way, I feel that goals built to fit around life commitments are often the most satisfying at completion (whether in fact they fail or succeed). Why? Well, for the reason that the negotiation, the planning and the investigating gives the goal that extra something (that extra cache, relevance, or importance).

When we've chosen our goals wisely we have made that choice taking into account the full meaning of it. Not simply because it's that time of year, because that celebrity does it, or because society impressed it upon us. We had all the facts of our lives around us and set a goal choice that we genuinely own within ourselves. It is this that gives me the most satisfaction at the end of a half-marathon, that I juggled things around training, that I found ways to get fitter, that I found new advice, that I found more things that worked when I ran 2-3-4+ times a week, that I found better kit, that I found better nutrition, that I discovered different preparation... the myriad of choices and negotiations made around that goal of completing a half-marathon that generate that pay-off. Choose a goal wisely, there will be more rewards than you can calculate I promise. Go on!

The joys of stretch

You would probably not consider that stretching is all that important or even useful, there is certainly an on ongoing debate in certain quarters about the hows, whys and whens of it. I certainly didn't think of it all that highly, and being tall it always felt like painful origami (that really just looked funny and hurt a lot!). Perhaps it is the creeping passing of age, or just a straight-forward epiphany that has lead me to change my views a smidge...

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

"Stretching is good", there glad I got that out. Stretching sessions can improve balance, muscle tone, and posture, quite apart from easing aches or simply getting loose before a big effort. The challenge is to keep on remembering the benefits and keeping them going. Here I have struggled in the past, and I would imagine its a common phenomena. How many get injured, go to a physiotherapist, get loads of helpful exercises to do, and then to quit them as soon as the painful phase of the injury passes? Yes, I have been in that cohort. Find some good (hopefully useful) stretches and give them a go over a prolonged period.

I have in fact a set of base stretches that I do that I first started when I lost my big weight back in 2000-2001. They came from an exercise DVD that I used to do several times a week to try and help lose the weight. I remember little of the exercises or routines (and have managed to blank out the horrific Lycra images), but have it seems committed the five minute stretch pattern to a very long term part of my memory. What I am trying to do is build new stretches into this and keep them going over a similar period. So perhaps what I am trying to suggest just here is, if you're stuck for some good ones 'borrow' an aerobics DVD and memorise its stretch / warm-up as a way into a repeatable everyday session. You can give / put the DVD back afterwards and not tell another soul if you like... it has taken me nearly ten years to confess after all!

PS. no, I am not putting an image of me stretching in this post... you'll have to make do with the internet stock photo instead.

'Caffeine-free' – In which the blogger tries to avoid a pious essayist style

I started to draft this post and discovered it was turning into an essay on caffeine and “why I don’t ‘use’ it any more”, then realised it was turning into one of horrible those pious health diatribes that often pop up in the media. So instead of turning myself into one of those pseudo-science bleating diet banner wavers, here are a list of simple things that I found / discovered that may or may not be of use…

Since the end of 2010 I have stopped drinking caffeine containing beverages (coffee, tea, cola, etc.).  It was something I had considered relatively briefly, my decision was only really firmed up after I had already ‘quit’ and I felt the benefit of my choice.

I gave up overnight, ‘cold-turkey’ as it is known, not because I especially intended to I just found it simpler to say “no” and adjust knowing that I might feel weird at times for a few days. Luckily I recognised what was happening when my head went fuzzy or groggy and went easy on myself to compensate.

Positive effects I found of being ‘caffeine-free’

1. Increased quality of sleep – I discovered that without it I could fall asleep far more rapidly, and enjoy a fuller night of rest (I have only suffered a couple of poor nights in over six months).

2. Faster 0-60mph time – I found that I am able to awake up and get going far more rapidly and smoothly (unless I have limited my hours of sleep badly by staying up very late for some reason).

3. Smoother mood throughout the day – there are no peaks or troughs pre- or post- intake. I feel calmer and find focus easier to find (and maintain). Interestingly I've realised in the last few days that it seems feeling calmer and less anxious has ended a long running nail chewing habit (an unexpected bonus).

4. Extremely regular bowel habit – never been a problem, but I noticed things were ‘neater’ and super regular (I am being British here and trying to preserve a little reserve, sorry).

5. I feel richer – no actually richer – I believe I am spending less in a given week. Through not buying takeaway coffees, caffeinated cola cans / bottles, and not having to replace very expensive jars of coffee in the cupboard (or office).

There are two caveats to add –

Firstly, I was a regular consumer, but not in as far as taking a fixed number of cups a day. People who have one cup each morning to get them going often report no issues. On top of a morning cup and regularly further drinks, I was perhaps taking on extra cups at particular phases of the week as I felt I ‘needed’ them.

Secondly, here is the only really science element to this post, we all respond to the actions of caffeine and caffeine containing drinks differently based on a range of physiological factors. So what I find you may or may not also be true for others.

Summary – I feel great for my choice, I was a little surprised at the difference I have to admit, and have to say I won’t be ‘going back’ for a cuppa any time soon.

The simplest things?

The simplest things aren't by any means the easiest things to get done. Just because they are termed simple it does not follow that they follow the dictionary definition of 'simple'. It is a common trap to tag any number of elements of daily routine, diet, or exercise change as merely simple. Changing a diet habit for example, sounds elegantly simple but is in fact often a feat of concentration, reinforcement, knowledge, and will. Changing your routine to fit in a few simple exercises, again sounds simple but requires saying "no" to other pulls on your time, reinforcement and enjoyment of the new routine.



Image: greenphile / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It very often is not a self determined impression of scale, it is all to frequently classed that 'simple' thing because someone else said so (be it in a book, magazine, over coffee, on television). Very often these sources of reference don't describe the behind the scenes work, effort, repeated attempts, changes in approach, the do overs, the pit falls, and so on. Before interpreting something as simply 'simple' it has to be understood, understand that that early morning run will likely mean you'll need to go to bed earlier, understand that the change in diet to cut the caffeine has a number of pharmacological effects on you, understand that if you are making a single 'simple' change it sits within your bigger picture (and so will have an impact). 

So what is my point? It is basically this, if you badge things as 'simple' but they just don't seem to work out - don't keep referring to them as 'simple'. Call them for what they are - tricky, difficult, awkward, challenging. Then having given your self the credit for identifying what a change means and that it will need hard work. Know that when you have taken it on and won it feels like a real victory and not just a 'simple' thing ticked off that no doubt long list of 'simple' things that should be done.

Give yourself the understanding of any challenge and that challenge will become something you can achieve.

Following your own advice

Sounds like stating the flaming obvious and I know I am... have gone to a saver supermarket, bought a new MP3 player for pennies and started filling it with music. "Ah ha", you think having noticed my blog entry two days ago, "he's motivating himself - following his own advice, simpleton!". Okay, to a point you'd be right, but no the advice I am renewing my pledge to follow is that of my own blog and getting 'on the move'....

Look a bit further down my blog roll to Sunday just gone (the 2nd December entry)... get the idea now? Hmm, yes I am heavier and lets be honest unfitter than I have been in some time, nigh on two years by rough reckoning. Want the reasons? No, thought not. Want the response? Well I am gonna tell you anyway.

The response has been in part the motivation MP3 true, but other than that, and more importantly I have been re-addressing of the one of the simplest sets of equations in life:-

Food + drink = Calories

Living + Exercise = Activity = Calories burnt

Calories + low activity = low Fitness + excess Weight

Calories + Activity = Fitness + 'normal' Weight

Calories + high Activity = high Fitness + functional Weight

Put simpler still (partly in case some smart-ass starts picking at my crude maths)... I've been eating too much food for the activity I undertake, therefore have gained weight.

The answer happily does not lay at the door of some hair brained wacko quack selling a book / CD / symposium, it lays squarely at the door marked "sensible healthy food in appropriate amounts". So that is indeed the door I have opened, I am trying to avoid the spare chocolate bar, the handy sports drink when I am sat in the office doing no exercise, the extra portion I couldn't say "no" to, the pack of sweets next to the shop checkout desk.

Whilst no I will not lose my extra weight in a period of strange starvation, I will whittle it away gradually, with purpose of activity and good habit. What else to say but watch my space ;o)

Build a motivation CD and you will run...

"Build a motivation CD and you will run..." - no, I don't mean sit in a sound studio and record your deepest thoughts on how to attain a wonderful life and success in your sphere of work (though if the mood takes you to do so go ahead,... it is after all a lucrative market!).

What I mean is get some of your favourite music (the kind that makes you move about like a nutter whilst in your armchair) and get it onto some device you can use whilst running or working out.

Several reasons to "Build a motivation CD"...

1) You will feel inspired by the rhythm and tempo to work hard.

2) It will distract you from what you may otherwise feel is a "dull" workout (the same stretch of park land running track can even with changing seasons be a bit monotonous if you run it a lot).

3) It's a fun exercise in itself to work out what in your music collection inspires you to greater efforts... you might find the theme from the "Rocky" movies is surpassed by that stirring classical movement that gets you waving your arms conductor style!!

4) You can re-burn, reshuffle, rejuvenate, restart the tracks whenever they too begin to feel a bit samey.

How to "Build a motivation CD"...

Well know this bit is as simple or as complicated as your circumstance dictates. There are more routes than might otherwise appear obvious. I am not gonna tell you how do this in detail, there is always a tech geek in anyone's sphere of friends / colleagues....

1) an MP3 player - there are a great many of differing price - the lower end of the scale get cheaper all the time (and given you are likely to put it through wear and tear a cheap replacement to make if need be). They very often link to a computer via USB leads meaning the interface is 'plug and play' and simply requires 'dragging and dropping' tracks onto the device.

2) a cassette walkman - okay, old school, but far less likely to skip than CD players. Have the benefit of being simple to operate for those not of the "facebook", "myspace", "youTube" generation. Again now relatively cheap, so can be replaced if dropped during a hard session without hurting the pocket too much. Editing might be fun if your HiFi is so new it no longer has a double tape deck, but if it is new you could no doubt transfer 'new' format digital media onto the analog tape pretty simply.

3) a CD Walkman - making a CD (CD burning) can be a bit of a pain depending on how computer literate you are and what software you have access to. Though once mastered it does mean that you can share your inspiration with fellow gym goers (ahem, albeit bending rules on sharing music slightly, kinda counts as a public broadcast but hey very few 'artistes' would begrudge you your motivation I'm sure?!?!)... what gym doesn't have a CD player in the corner? Does mean that others may hear that classical stirring track you like and wonder just when the theme from "Rocky" will come on.

4) Mobile phone - aside from being handy if you are running by yourself in 'that' part of town many now have music / radio capacity. Great option if you like to keep up with current affairs but don't catch the news at home, for example. The phones that can will come with all the bumph to guide you with the "how to", some might need you to buy a headset or other add-on, but its well worth considering the next time you upgrade (check you contract has insurance, if you are on one, handy with the afore mentioned drop risk). Many will have software which will give you more or less the 'drag and drop' track options.

5) iPod or other similar - kinda should be under the "MP3" type category, but as a lot are "MP4" I can split hairs. Basically the bits of kit that belong at the fancier end of the personal music spectrum... they usually bristle with handy features and bigger storage capacities. Some even come with jogging add-on's which will alter the beat of the song to fit the rhythm of your foot steps. Whizz bang, and great if you like running and working out all the time and get the benefit of the gadgets... can be a bit of a target of thieves and you will be all the more gutted to drop it losing your entire CD collection that you spent weeks burning onto it!!

The simplest motivational track available...

The cheapest and simplest alternative to all of these is of course to drag a friend / colleague along with you so that you can chat / share the pain / plan your next sporting conquest or whatever as you run and workout. By far the most rewarding in as far as you have a witness to your goals, improvements, and a motivator (i.e. someone to race in a sprint burst, hehe).

Motivation comes from within for sure, but don't hesitate to give yourself variety in your endeavours be that a new motivation CD, a new challenge, a new sport, a new route around the park.... Have fun :o)

Lessons in what not to do for Regattas

Over the weekend the crew travelled to the City of Oxford regatta on the Thames. For me it was a lesson in what not to do... in summary...

1) Don't neglect basis fitness work - can offer excuses but that a bit rubbish.

2) Be organised - I was off beam all weekend and it showed on the water - inconsistency breeds inconsistency may be.

3) Alcohol and day two of a two day regatta don't mix - I was not drunk on the middle night but it still took the edge off - we raced the eventual winners, thus we could have been the eventual winners if sharper perhaps.

4) Don't listen to or get involved in crew gossip / slagging fests - they inspire negative thinking.

5) We camped next to a scout hut so should have been reminded about this one - be prepared - my mental preparation was non-existent.

Some lessons you learn the hard way I guess :o(

Medical intervention

It seems that the large blister I suffered months back, that subsequently became infected and turned into a verruca... will require medical intervention.

I finally went yesterday, after weeks of self-treating (on and off) and avoiding making the call. The doctor looked a little stunned and exclaimed "I don't think that can be frozen off, or even cut out... try treating it with paste and we'll see if it can be shrunk enough to be frozen off".

Arrrgh!!! Weeks of treatment ahead.... The moral of the story is simple (yes, its a male thing probably) "as soon as anything looks / feels iffy see a doctor you prat".

If I ever create a list of important entries in my blog that serve as useful to anyone training / participating in sport after losing weight and getting fit I will sadly have to include things like this... highlighting my own stupidity!!! d'oh!!!

Ps. I would include a picture, but that's just taking it too far!!!!!

Trendy

I the course of trying to play with the couple of pages linked to my blog, something was noticed in my weight loss trend over the years [link on the right blog nav bar]. I take more measurements at the start of the year than the end, looking back I began most of the last several years making new years resolutions and planning to run various spring time events.

What it shows are the effects of the seasons and motivations, later in the year I either forget the resolution or simply am enjoying the long days and activity so much that I neglect the targets. It is really very nice to have plotted out all the readings as I did allowing me to spot such a reproducible trend in my habits.

I would recommend keeping a diary, chart, or even blog to track what you are doing or losing over a long time frame. So that the things that are beneficial or detrimental will become self-apparent, and mean you can utilise or correct those little things you do.

MSN at it again... wow, marathon stuff!!

I am again suprised to note that MSN's UK homepage has a link to marathon running stuff... this time "The dos and don'ts of marathon training".
I am impressed and at the bottom of the page are links to their other marathon content :o)
[2011 update - The link / page since vanished, to be fair MSN may have a new section for this content I haven't looked. If I see something in future I'll be sure to blog it again :o) ]