Easter - the resurrection

So its been a couple of weeks since my last blog so i thought I'd better get typing to keep you all up to date with my efforts

During the Easter holidays a couple of things happened that both hampered and helped my training

I treated myself to a week off to spend some time with the kids.  This entailed eating out lots (and lots) and no exercise whatsoever  (felt great).  Not the greatest preparation with around 6 weeks to go but I felt I deserved it or at least convinced myself I deserved it.  As a result i had no doubt put on weight and lost some amount of fitness so I was not looking not looking forward to my next run as I fully expected pain and hurt to be fair was exactly what happened.  I went out on the Tuesday and did my normal 4 minute runs and 2 minute walks times 9 and it was a total disaster I felt really heavy and tired and was so glad to get it out of the way not so glad that my next run was going to be 5 minute runs and 1 minute walks my toughest one yet....................

So here i was back to work back to cold damp nights and the prospect of my biggest run yet, bad times.  I had one ray of light to look forward to and that was catching up with a good friend on the Friday over a few beers, a great way to ease myself into the weekend and my first week back at work.  Anyway as things turned out  the drinks had to be postponed for a couple of weeks so as exciting as my life is on a Friday night I decided to go out for a run instead and free up my weekend.

So I've got on my running gear and set off on what I know is going to be a tough test 5 minutes running with only 1 minute rests and to be honest it felt strangely good?  The running element wasn't as hard as I thought there were times when I got to the end of the 5 minutes and felt really strong the only difference was the rest periods, until now there had always been at least 2 minutes of rest in-between each repetition so having to adjust to 1 minute was a total nightmare, no way long enough to get any kind of recovery so it just feels like you are running all the time

This being the case I got my ass round a good 8.5k and felt really good so I thought hell yeah just keep going and I did until I heard this wonderful sound in my head (via the running app not actual voices in my head) that said "distance 10 kilometres"  not normally something to get excited about but to me the guy who couldn't even run for 30 seconds without struggling a few months ago the 6.2 miles covered was sheer bliss and a real boost 5 weeks before the big race as now I know what it feels like and know that I can do it.  Now I'm not expecting to run 10k all the time now but as long as I keep the fitness ticking over then I should be in good shape come race day

On a final note again thank you to everyone to has encouraged and spurred me on with my training its been a huge lift and makes life all the better knowing I have a good support out there cheering me on so thanks folks.

You all should know by now why a I am doing this so I don't want to be all Bono and harp on too much but MS Scotland is a fantastic cause to get behind and your money will really help everyone involved to please give as little or as much as you can http://www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson

5 things I enjoy about this process

So from previous blogs I explained the 5 things I missed the most since taking up this challenge and now I'm going to explain the 5 things I enjoy most about this process

5)  The home straight - Running is a pain in the ass I'll be honest dragging this body around 3 times a week ain't easy but no pain no gain the race won't run itself. My training to date involves jogging and walking for around an hour currently covering last run 4.11 miles or 6.6km. The walking parts are great but the jogging part is tough but the best part of it all is when I'm on my last repetition and I know I'll be home soon and it will all be over.

4) The peace- A strange one really but when your out and about there is nothing to occupy yourself with other than your thoughts so to get away from it all is good it can be quite nice solving the worlds problems during a run. 

3) The encouragement - I really appreciate everyone asking how I'm getting on with things it really makes all the aches and pains a little more bearable so thank you to everyone who keeps asking it makes it all worthwhile

2) The new me - The old me was fine dont get me wrong but the decisions and mindsets I have now are much better.  Its so much easier to say no to things where before I would just have one (or often more) anyway.  Likewise as the weight slowly comes off I've noticed trousers being a little looser and jeans once dubbed "out of fashion" (code for too tight) are now "back in fashion" so its really pleaseing to see a visible reward for my efforts


1) This blog - When I started out with this I wanted to use the blog as a diary of events and thoughts for my journey through this and I've found that writing this has in itself been a great help.  Now I'm not the best when it comes to the written word and as previously mentioned my spelling and grammar are not the best but i think writing down how you think about certain thinks helps you understand a little bit more about yourself.  I've always been honest in what I've written and looking back even at this stage I can see a great change in how I approach life.  For me one of the most surprising things I've found is the audience I have captured, most of my blogs are forced upon my facebook friends or twitter followers @donnierob77 so I expect a large percentage of UK views and some views in Australia but this for me would be it, so to have over 41 views in America 8 in Russia 6 in the Ukraine as well as Germany, France and Ireland is totally mind blowing.  God knows what their searching for in Russia to end up on my nonsense.  Anyway the grand plan was to at the end of this all print it all off and keep it so that when I'm fat again I can look back on the good old days when I use to pound the streets all in the name of charity

Thanks again for taking the time to read this feel free to spread the word and remember its all for a good cause so dig deep

http://www.justgiving.com/Donnie-Robertson

Diary of a fat man 5 things I miss

So for a few weeks now I've been really strict on my eating habits and I mean strict. When I look back on my old habits I see now just how much junk went into me combined with no exercise it was just a recipe for disaster but that doesn't mean to say I don't miss all of those things.  Here are some of the things I miss since being healthy took over

Number 5 Chocolate - I've never desired chocolate but if there's chocolate around I will have it.  With Christmas in the past my kids between them must have received over 10 selection boxes added on to that chocolate coins and the chocolates Gillian and I received then the house is laden with the stuff.  By now it would have been devoured.  It would not be uncommon for the last cup of tea as night to be accompanied by something from the goodie box.  Now I just avoid chocolate altogether and you know something i don't miss it as much as I thought

Number 4 Crisps  - Crisps are ace.  So versatile they go with almost anything?  No?  Nothing better than sitting at home feeling a little peckish and "oh a wee bag of crisps fit fine" and then 5 minutes later "oh that was great I'll have another" Again party season at Christmas usually means "chip n dip" and pringles are always on offer in the shops so it would not be uncommon to devour a whole tube of pringles in one night, madness I know but they've hit the advertising nail on the head "once you've popped...."  Now I try and avoid crisps but I do miss the crunch sensation you get when eating so I have allowed myself low fat quaveresque bags once or twice a week nothing more

Number 3 Fast Food - Who doesn't like fast food? Chinese, Indian, KFC, Burger King and my all time favourite Domino's.  We like to treat ourselves normally on a Saturday night to something nice and whilst this won’t stop entirely the weakness was during the week if you couldn't think of anything to cook then we would just get takeaway now this doesn't happen every week but again the advertising gang have got you "Two for Tuesday" absolute dream 2 medium pizza's (one each I'm nae that greedy) delivered within 20 minutes for around £10 then if and it’s a big if there was anything left over that was lunch the next day sorted out.  I've not had a proper takeaway since I've started this so we'll wait and see how it goes but so far so good.

Number 2 Cheese - I think push come to shove I could quite happily live without chocolate but not cheese.  Cheese on toast right now would be an absolute treat likewise macaroni cheese absolute event.  I still have cheese like Philadelphia which is OK but it’s not mature cheddar.  I don’t want to write much more as it’s making me hungry

So what’s the biggest thing I miss out of all of this?  Well for one it’s not chips, surprising i know but I’m not a big chip fan, I mean I like chips plenty of salt and some tomato sauce yes please but I wouldn't go wild over it.  Chips are normally a convenient side order because you can’t be bothered peeling and boiling tatties but it’s not something I couldn't live without.

So the main thing I’ve missed the most since starting this is......................

Number 1 Biscuits - I love biscuits not even chocolate biscuits any kind at all.  Take the humble rich tea perfect for dunking (1-2 seconds max) A cup of tea could easily see you through half a dozen biscuits and I drink allot of tea so the cupboard is getting hit hard on a daily basis.  Same at work there is always cookies or cakes on the go so it would be rude not to indulge.  It's really hard to avoid biscuits so what I've found helps is that if I avoid the things that make me eat biscuits then that's half the struggle so instead of tea I have hot juice or water and this helps. 

So there you have it all the things i miss since being healthy.  Now I'm not going to lie to you or kid myself that I wont ever have these things again but moderation is the key and treats are a great reward for my hard work

Till next time

Donnie

Diary of a fat man The long and winding road

So I'm eating healthy and doing well on the training, add that together with walks during the week on my lunch hour and its all going well.  Sunday saw my first outing during the day and i must confess it felt allot better running in the cold day than it does in the cold night.  I even have a confession to make when i arrived home on Sunday after my hour session i actually felt quite good (could have been frost on the brain?) I'm not sure if it was A) just the feeling of being home or B) whether in fact I'm actually starting to enjoy this ?  A few hours later when the aches and pain kick in i start to believe it was probably A.

Anyway as my walks/jogs turn into jogs/walks one thing crossed my mind that i hadn't prepared for, and that was where to run?  It seems simple enough but in reality your choices are limited.  As a busy dad and husband my wife, Gillian, works in the evenings and i look after the kids so when Gillian gets home at 8.15 this is when i head out.  In the dark winter nights i don't like to wonder too far from home so i find myself running around the industrial estate so that no matter where i am I'm never that far from home.  Its not the best of places to run but its quiet and i don't feel self conscious when I'm doing it.  I've mapped out a route of 5k (half the distance of the race and at present the thought of doing this twice still seems a long way away but the mindset and attitude are all still  going strong

So what does this week hold in store well the running part is double what I've done to date so it will be interesting to see my comments this time next week.  I should also be in a position to say who is going to benift from this hard work

Thanks again for all the support and kind words this is what pushes me on

Donnie

Diary of a fat man Jogging, not as easy as it looks

So week 3 starts after what can only be described as a marathon drinking session over the weekend.  Far too much alcohol was consumed and no doubt it put me back a few steps in the whole training regime but with every cloud there is a silver lining and the night was spent with 3 other athletes, 1 had completed 2 marathons (sub 4 hours) another training for this year’s marathon and the 3rd well he's in the same boat as me a big guy trying to be fit and healthy so there were plenty of hints and tips in between the cocktails and shots.  Note to self swimming the next day - Bad Idea

So as per plan week 3 sees the introduction of jogging and my first thoughts are "fuck this is going to be a struggle"  My plan sees me out for 40 minutes alternating 4.5 minutes walking with 30 seconds jogging repeated over 8 times.  Of course me wanting to be clever thinks running for 30 seconds is piss I’ll just keep going (bad move) this only highlighted how out of shape I was and that thoughts of running the length (and more) of the beach are miles away.  Anyway despite the freezing cold and my over ambitious attitude I managed and again I felt good for it If you'd asked me before Christmas to go out for a jog at 8.30 at night I would have choked on my tea and chocolate biscuits and politely told you to "piss off"

The plan slowly increases over the weeks so you run more and walk less so I'm looking forward to see how this pans out but in-between rest days and other activities It should become better and easier so fingers crossed

Even at this early stage I get plenty of encouragement not just from family and workmates but from people that I just wouldn't expect to be interested in my campaign and this really spurs me on so thank you to everyone for all the nice comments it means a lot

Donnie

Diary of a fat man Mindgames

Well its nearly 2 weeks in now and I’m well and truly on my way and whilst I haven't actually done any running yet I must confess I am actually enjoying the whole process.  I think my previous failures have come as a result of not really wanting to succeed and giving up at the first opportunity.  The main change this time around other than having to actually complete 10k is the mindset I have.  I feel like I’m playing a game against myself here and I'm determined not to lose, so when offered biscuits and chocolate and butteries rather than say oh yes I'll just have one I’m being really strict and refusing flat out and do you know what I feel better for it I have more energy as a result.

Now since I decided to do this I weighed myself for the first time in ages, fat people don’t tend to step on the scales if they don’t have too we don’t need something else pointing out what we already know but for me I had too and a full 10 days later I was surprised to see that the hard work was paying off.  Now it was only 7lbs nothing dramatic but when I converted this into new money I was really shocked at how much this was extra to be carrying around previously.  Now I'm not going to be a slave to the scales so I only intend doing this once a week

Next week should see the start of the jogging stage so it will be interesting to see how this pans out

fingers crossed

Diary of a fat man Week 1

Week 1

Well that’s it done everyone knows now about my run and I must confess I am really pleased with the level of support from everyone.  Hints, tips and eating plans are all appreciated as I've said before I have no will power so the more people helping out will only encourage me on further.

There is one person however who has helped and supported me more than all of you and that’s my wife Gillian.  Gillian it only took you about 8 years but we got there in the end.  Gillian has always been trying to get me fit and slim downed but the fat man inside of me always gets the better of me. (a tip for all you women trying to get your man to do that thing he doesn't want to do just stick at it and in around 8 years your endeavours should be rewarded.)  I thought the arrival of Matthew almost 7 years ago now would spur me on and then again when Lucie arrived nearly 4 years ago would help me get a move on but alas no kids just tire you out even more

SO how have I fared in my first week?  Well slowly but surely would be the answer, a combination of walking and "Just Dance" on the Wii  have been my efforts and from what I've found so far is if I don’t make it as an athlete then I can always turn to dancing (bad dad dancing at that).  Anyway is about preparing the body for the shock and awe that lies ahead and already my body is feeling the aches and pains of it all, but hey no pain no gain eh?

How does week 2 pan out well more of the same Laps of walking around duthie Park at lunchtime (3-4k a day) and some light exercise in the evening.  Towards the end of the week I think I'll venture out in the evening around Cove (still walking)  Saturday sees a lads night out get in the way of things but I’m not going to sit here and pretend I'll behave myself, yes I will have a few drinks and yes I'll probably have that kebab but that my treat

So here's to more of the same healthy eating and exercise in order to fit me up

I can’t wait he says sarcastically :)

The Story Begins

So here we are January 2012 and I'm like what the hell have I done!!!

But like all good stories let me take you back to the beginning

For all who know me I am a lazy bastard and a big one at that.  All through life I have never really exerted myself any more than I have to.  Take school for example although my intelligence would have allowed for more I eased through my exams with quite little studying (you will understand quite quickly than English was never my strong point so apologies in advance) got myself C's and that was enough.  I can even remember leaving my chemistry exam after half an hour because I wanted to go home and watch the Cricket (possibly the laziest sport of all played over 5 days) so I answered as much as i could then up and left.   I passed the exam with a 2 and have no idea how the cricket went but that was me never really interested in doing the hard work.

Fast forward almost 20 years and a lifestyle of laziness and I'm afraid to say it has all caught up with me.  Every year starts off with good intentions of eating healthy and exercising and losing the gut but every year without fail the effort lasts till Easter (at best)  Wii Fit tells you its been 278 days since your last test and that you've put on 5lbs and you think fuck it at least I'm happy and I am happy  I sit on my arse for a large part of the day

My weakness is that i have no will power whatsoever I'm so glad i don't smoke cause I'd struggle to give it up.  I enjoy swimming and walking but there are to many distractions in life such as television and Angry Birds.  I'll watch anything you name it cup of tea and some biscuits and I'll watch any crap and if there's no crap on I'll sit and play with my phone (dam you apple)

The solution = THE FEAR

I need the fear to push me into something that I would never normally do, a goal and a sense of achievement so that is why in May this year I will be running the Baker Hughes 10k!!!!  That's right quite literally run fat boy run over 6.2 miles.  Now its no marathon but for a fat guy like me this is my Everest.  How am i going to manage?  Christ know but without the FEAR i would never get round to it and we'd be another year older and another year fatter

So here goes yesterday I signed up £21 for the privilege of dragging my fat ass around Aberdeen.  I will be doing this for charity so alongside my health and overall well being there will also be others benefiting too.  I just have to decide who

Already I feel sick at the though but if you see a fat man curled up at the side of the road please pick him up and tell him to "Jog On"

Donnie