Week 26 - Mission Accomplished - Or So Far So Good

I DID IT!!!!!

6 months ago I wrote my first blog saying how I wanted to lose weight and turn my life around. I was sick of being fat. Sick of being out of breath walking upstairs. Sick of making excuses for not going to my nice expensive gym. Sick of not being able to enjoy clothes shopping. And appalled when I caught my reflection in the mirror. And as I work in an opticians we have a lot of mirrors.

I needed a project that would focus my attention. I needed something different to everything I'd tried before. So no quick fixes by crash dieting for a month, 6 weeks, 8 weeks etc. No committing to it at the start and, as on numerous occasions in the past, giving up before I even got started. And most importantly, no achieving results but then slipping back into old habits and putting the weight back on as quickly, if not quicker, than I'd lost it.

This time I needed something I would see through to the end and I needed help to get there. So when Ash Jardine asked me if I would take part in his inaugural RockSolidRace and write a blog for his website in return for him setting up some PT sessions and nutritional advice it seemed like just the thing I needed. Firstly I would be getting structured training and proper advice about which foods to eat and which to avoid. But most importantly I was making my goals very public and would want to avoid failure at all costs.

It's fair to say that over the years friends and colleagues have supported my attempts to lose weight but after so many false starts they stop challenging you when you start to give up. That's not a criticism of them but a stark fact that they've all witnessed so many "this time it's different" comments that it was hard for me to be taken seriously. On the flip side I knew that if I struggled to keep going I wouldn't get such a hard time from them so it was easier to quit.

But with the blog I was baring my soul to strangers. And within days of my first blog I was getting such fantastic comments and support. It felt utterly
wrong to let them down.

So I'm typing this 6 months on and so much has changed about me. For starters I achieved my initial goal. I completed the 10k RockSolidRace. And believe me it was tough. We had torrential rain the day before the event and it was already going to be muddy. This resulted in a quagmire which was difficult to walk on let alone run. And that was before we had to carry things too. Along the way we had to climb in and out of swamp-like ditches, carry big logs uphill with our feet sinking into the mud. Carry a 20kg sandbag for a kilometre whilst also negotiating obstacles. Climb over a huge cargo net. Crawl through a stream with barbed wire above us so that just our heads were above the water. Climb walls and hurdle hay bales. But by far the toughest obstacle was climbing into a skip full of water and ice. Halfway along the skip was a barrier which meant you had to duck fully underwater to get to the other side. God it was cold. I felt like all my vital organs were shutting down.
But I finished it and at the end I felt an enormous pride that I'd completed something that 6 months earlier would've been impossible.

I've put together a slideshow of the event on YouTube and you can view it here: http://youtu.be/imLprVDZe40

Secondly as I mentioned in my last blog I actually enjoy sport again. Exercise has stopped being just about weight loss - although I've still some way to go for my ultimate target weight - and now it's just as much about the buzz of a good session. As a knock-on effect of this journey I've already set new goals to keep the focus and momentum. 6 months has been the longest I've stuck to a plan for in the last 25 years and I feel I've crossed over from short term fad diets to long term lifestyle changes in both my eating habits and exercise.

With regards to my training a massive thank you goes to Martin Hewlett at Exeter University Sports Faculty for setting this up with Ash. At times Martin has also trained me and I'm indebted to him for all his support. Also to another trainer there Tai who took me for a session and has constantly given me support and encouragement whenever I've seen him. But without doubt my biggest thanks goes to Lee Kirk who has been my PT instructor from the beginning. I learned very quickly to trust Lee so that when I thought I couldn't do something and he told me I could, I would listen to him rather than my mind. Lee has mixed up the training but always with a view that squats and upper body work were the key to getting me round the course. The legs power you around and the upper body lifts you over obstacles. Cardio was done as high intensity to raise my heart rate and assist with the weight loss. I've just trained again with Lee today and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future to keep me on target to reach my weight loss goal.






At the race I finally got to meet Morna Jardine. She is a Nutritional Therapist and can be found at www.vital-nutrition.co.uk. She is also Ash's sister and got roped in to giving me nutritional advice. It was brilliant to finally meet her after previously only speaking on Skype but I am eternally grateful for the "rules to success" Morna instilled in me. I now follow a very straightforward eating plan. I try never to skip breakfast. I aim for a mid morning snack. My lunches are always pre-planned so I don't end up buying a sandwich or worse still fast food. Dinners comprise of protein and veg (which no doubt will be replaced with salads if we ever get any warmer weather). I still have treats and cheat days but try to follow the 80-20 rule so that 80% of the week is healthy eating.

Anyway the story so far in a nutshell. I've lost 3.5 stone. My chest has reduced by 5 inches. My waist has reduced by 5 inches. My collar size has reduced by 1.5 inches. My blood pressure and cholesterol are better than they've been since I can remember. I try to train at least twice a week. I no longer see my weekly food plan as something I have to endure for a few weeks before returning to my comfort food. Instead I regard it as appetising and healthy choices.

In summary I'm a changed man. And I'm happy to say that my friends/colleagues have all said they didn't think I would stick to it and that because I have they are so impressed. Positive feedback is such a great feeling and helps keep me focused for the future.

Finally I must thank all the people who spoke to me at the race. I was very nervous about what I was about to face but within minutes of arriving people were coming up to me saying "hey Dave I've been reading your blog. Well done mate" or "There's Dave. Go for it". Even out on the course as I was passing people coming in the opposite direction they would call out my name. And on top of that the DJ called me to the front of the stage before our wave started the warm-up. I must say I did find this a bit embarrassing as I was just one of 2500 people there that day and didn't think I deserved to be singled out but I was also grateful that the DJ knew who I was and what I'd done to get there. But if I had any delusions of grandeur or started to get too big for my boots I was about to be brought back to earth with a bang. Standing in the queue to get my goody bag after the race a guy in front of me turned round and recognised me. He told me he had been reading my blog the night before and thought I'd done brilliantly. Seconds later I turned to look behind me and a guy said "hey you're that fat bloke off Facebook". Lol.

Thanks for reading and sharing my journey with me. I'll post more blogs occasionally as my training and weight loss progress but for now so long and I hope to see some of you at next year's RockSolidRace.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Cowick Hill,Exeter,United Kingdom

Week 23 - The Final Countdown - Less Than 3 Weeks To Go!!

Well what a journey I've been on. My next sentence was going to be that it's nearly over but that wouldn't be true. Because the last 6 months or so has changed me as a person. And the changes will continue long after 16th March when I cross that finish line in www.RockSolidRace.com. My first blog was a warts and all honest assessment of why I'd failed time after time to lose weight and keep it off. But over the months I've developed new habits that are much healthier choices for me. Don't get me wrong. I still love food and I still have the capability to gorge myself. But, and this is the big change, I now do it as a treat once in a while whereas before it would be almost daily at times.

The most satisfying aspect of my lifestyle change has been my enjoyment of sport again. Right up to my 20's I loved playing sport but as the weight crept on it became harder and harder until a point was reached where it stopped being enjoyment and became a punishment for having allowed myself to gain weight. I exercised to lose weight rather than for the buzz you get from a hard workout. Even in the early weeks of my training with Lee there was a sense of dread before arriving at the gym knowing I was going to be exhausted within minutes of beginning the session. My blogs over the weeks shared the pain of these sessions but as I progressed I talked more of knowing the pain was temporary and it was only an hour and I often felt elated afterwards knowing I'd got through it.

I wouldn't have got to where I am now without the huge support of Lee Kirk, my personal trainer at Exeter University Sports Faculty. He has been a rock offering encouragement and pushing me harder than I would ever have considered pushing myself. Lee has been on holiday for the last few weeks and I'm also indebted to Martin Hewlett and Tai, who have taken up the baton to continue my training in Lee's absence. I have taken some proper "beastings" and have been "broken" for many days afterwards but I only have to look in the mirror or try on new clothes in smaller sizes to acknowledge the old adage that hard work brings rewards. And all three trainers have paid me the ultimate compliment by saying that I'm a pleasure to train because I always give 100%. I had a particularly tough session with Martin a couple of weeks back where I did approx 200 squats with weight and a similar number of shoulder and bench presses. 2 days later I couldn't straighten my arms or bend my legs. So as you can imagine, stepping into a pair of trousers was a challenge. I had to put them on the floor and put my feet in then shuffle my legs along the carpet until the waistband was in reach of my hands. Not a great look.

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/facilities/





In my last post I mentioned I was doing a 2 hour SW Military Fitness training morning with hill running. Oh my God!!! This was my first session with this group of mainly girls and a few blokes. Some of them regularly do the weeknight training sessions which last an hour but my introduction to this style of training was an eye opener. Lots of running between cones with press ups, sit ups and squat thrusts were followed by climbing the hill in the picture above. It's difficult to get the perspective of how steep it was until you see the man in the high vis jacket halfway up the hill. We did 3 up and downs then went back into the main field for more circuit stuff. Then we ran to the next hill which dropped on the other side into a valley and back up to a further crest. There and back 3 times with the obligatory press ups, sit ups and squat thrusts.





Back into the field and this time we did a version of the military field gun competition. This involves 2 teams running from one end of the course to the other holding a long rope. All team members must keep hold of the rope at all times. At one end of the course are the "gun parts" which are transported one at a time by nominated team members and carried back to the other end. I think there were 14 parts in all and when we crossed the finish line the instructor told us it looked better where it was before and to move it back. God I was knackered by now but off we went again 14 times. Then he said actually, on reflection, it looked better last time so move it back again. At this point I politely bowed out for some water, and watched on in admiration at the stamina of the ones still going.

After this we had to run a circuit of the park and then finished with stretches. A full 2 hours of hard work. And this weekend I'm doing a similar thing with them which is a 5-6km run around the Marine Commando Challenge course at Woodbury in Exeter. Each year there is a challenge that people sign up to which is not dissimilar to the RockSolidRace. On Sunday we will be running up hills, through mud, crawling on our bellies, wading through water and going underwater through a tunnel. Sounds like fun eh?





I got my new trail shoes at last and they will get their first outing on Sunday. I can't help thinking they won't look so yellow by the time I've finished the course. Lol.

I'm now a veteran of taking baths and I remembered a phrase from a comedian called Mike Harding from a few years ago explaining the class system. If you were posh you got out of the bath to have a wee. And if you were middle class you'd wee into the sponge and squeeze it out in the sink. Needless to say where baths are concerned I'm very working class. Lol. Not really I hasten to add.

I have some new projects in the pipeline for post RockSolidRace. A friend of mine organises a charity bike ride in Southampton in memory of his daughter who died of Strep B. This is an infection which can be passed to newborn babies from their mother and sadly, can result in death. George and his wife, have campaigned tirelessly with others to make screening of pregnant women at 35-37 weeks compulsory through the NHS. Each year he organises Rosie's Ride which is a 110 mile bike ride in August. I've agreed to join them this year so will be getting in some serious training rides and Spinning classes over the next few months.

Also I'm looking at doing a triathlon (lite) of sorts in September on the Isle of Wight. It's done in teams of 3 who must all finish together and consists of a 19 mile mountain bike ride followed by a 2 mile kayak race and then finishes with a 8.5 mile run. Past races have taken between 3.5 and 4.5 hours to complete.

6 months ago I could not envisage me contemplating any of the things I now want to do. I aim to lose another 21lb to be at my final goal. I'm about 8lbs off my target for the race but happy with where I've got to so far. I was looking to lose 4 stone by mid March but I certainly don't see 3 and a half stone as a failure.

Finally a heartfelt request for some of your hard-earned money. I'm not big on asking for sponsorship and appreciate many of you are asked by lots of people. I know from my own Twitter and Facebook timelines how many people have Just Giving pages. But I hope my blogs have entertained or motivated you in some small way and I'd like to be able to have trodden this path for more than just my benefit. I've chosen Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital as my Just Giving page and would hope some of you may be able to support me by supporting a most worthy cause.

http://www.justgiving.com/David-Smithwick


As always thanks for reading

An ever decreasing Dave.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom

Week 19 - Run Forrest Run

I've joined a running club!! In fact 2 running clubs!! Me!! It's scarcely believable. I don't like running. In fact before I started this journey I detested running. But this is how much I've changed in the last 4-5 months.

I watched a programme about Eddie Izzard doing his multi marathons for Comic Relief a few years back. Before he started training he met up with a team doctor for GB Olympics. He was asked if he did much running and replied that he once ran for a bus. Now I don't think I even did that these last few years.

But I've joined Exeter City FC running club which meets on a Thursday night and I completed a 6.5km run last week. I've also done my first Parkrun at Killerton on Saturday which is a 5km run held at 9am every Saturday morning. The photo above wasn't from last week but the conditions were similar, if not slightly more muddy.

And do you know what? I loved it. It's tough but there's something very rewarding about getting out of bed early on your day off and doing something energetic which leaves you feeling good about the rest of the day. I'm now spending hours online researching the best trail shoes which will cope with a mixture of mud, grass, tarmac and gravel. Because on Saturday the first section of the course was on a camber in lots of mud and I resembled Bambi on Ice as I tried to maintain a vertical running position. I was running with a mate, Andy, who had the necessary footwear, and he didn't slip once.

This experience also provided me with a memory of my childhood when I got home as it must be the first time in nearly 30 years that I've got into the bath with mud caked to my skin.

Now like I said I've changed. Hugely. Knowing I was doing the 5km on Saturday morning didn't stop me booking a PT session with Lee the same day. Lee has now gone on his well-deserved holiday this week and I had to cancel last week's midweek session with him so Saturday afternoon would be my last opportunity until March. But there is no disruption to my PT sessions as both Martin and Tai have agreed to take me on. I had my first session with Martin yesterday which went well but today is agony. No change there then. Lol.

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/facilities/

I have another session with Martin tomorrow evening (Friday) and then on Sunday I'm doing a RockSolid training course with SW Military Fitness which is a 2 hour hill rep training session. I must be insane. But there are just over 6 weeks until the race and as the well-known horse burger supermarket says, "every little helps".

I've now signed up officially to the 10km race so there's no getting out of it. Take a look at the interactive course map to see the kind of things in store for me.

http://www.rocksolidrace.com/interactive-map/index.html

Click on the red pins to discover what joys await.

I had a Skype call with Morna Jardine yesterday. Morna is providing me with all my nutritional advice. I told her how easy the healthy eating has now become. It's so natural for me to get up in a morning, make my breakfast and lunch and eat my vitamins and supplements then return in the evening for my meal of steamed veg and poultry, fish or steak (once a week treat). I joked to somebody the other day that my local pizza delivery sent me a get well soon card as they haven't heard from me in ages. And my Clubcard vouchers are no longer for wine as I rarely buy any these days. Morna gave me the tools necessary to complete my mission and it has been up to me to stick to the plan. And by and large I have. I do have wobbles but they are few and far between and I maintain this 80-20 balance of healthy eating. Morna has also helped with which supplements to take. As always I appreciate her taking the time to talk to me and offer her expert advice and guidance.

Finally I am now almost 5 months into my "journey" and thought I would share some of my headline achievements.

I have lost 5 inches from my waist
I have lost 5 inches from my chest
My BMI had reduced by 5
My collar size has gone from 18 to 16.5
I HAVE LOST 3 STONE 4 POUNDS

But they are just numbers. The following photo shows me in July, November and today. It shows most definitely the progress I've made.





One last thing, as Columbo used to say. I've now set up a just giving page to raise some money for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. My page can be found here. http://www.justgiving.com/David-Smithwick


As always thanks for taking the trouble to read this.

A definitely ever decreasing Dave



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom

Week 16 - Holiday's Over and Back on a Mission

Well Happy New Year to everybody. Hope you all had a great Christmas with lots of partying and eating. I know I did!!! And I know it came at a price. But I'm pleased to say that the wheels haven't fallen off the wagon completely and I'm back on the straight and narrow and into training mode immediately.

Before Christmas I succumbed to the cold everyone else at work seemed to have. This resulted in me having to cancel 3 PT sessions with Lee. With the added forced suspension of training whilst I was away for Christmas I only trained twice from the 10th Dec until resuming on 2nd Jan. And oh how my body reminded me afterwards.

It's fair to say that, whilst I approached Christmas with good intentions, it was always going to be tricky. I was home in Manchester for 5 days and crammed so many social events in that I could almost feel the pounds going back on with each bite. But I had a thoroughly good time and needed to remind myself that I'm making changes to my life forever. Not just 12 weeks. And that means that when celebrations occur I will embrace and enjoy them. It's more about what I do the rest of the time that counts.

My first session back with Lee was gruesome. The cardio stuff was okay but I was breathing heavily after only a few minutes. But the circuit stuff hurt at the time and was like the gift that kept giving for the next 3 days! Lee worked my shoulders and upper arms which were relatively okay but the squats and lunges taught me, where possible, not to have a break from doing them. Because your muscles soon forget what you've done previously. I can honestly say it was by far my toughest session yet. And to heap misery on even more I asked to weigh myself at the end of the session and discovered I'd put on 6 pounds since mid December. But that was better than I'd been expecting.

The next day at work I was in agony! Everything hurt. And I mean everything. One of the movements I do most in my day is standing up from a chair on wheels and sitting down again about 3-4 times in every 20 minute consultation. And I see 23 patients a day. Now I couldn't tell you whether getting up or sitting down was more painful because both were awful. Occasionally I'd be mid-sentence to my patient and I'd hear my voice go up an octave. I was almost in tears. But that was only the next day! The day after that was even worse. My colleagues kept hearing little whimpers as I moved about the department. I had intended to do a treadmill run 2 nights later but couldn't even operate the clutch in my car so waited until the next night and went and did a cardio session. So that's why I found myself in the gym at 8pm on a Saturday night. I've so changed. Lol.

As always I am eternally grateful to the team at Exeter University Sports Faculty. Lee has been immense and has given me self belief and the ability to do so much more than I felt possible. I follow some of the coaches on Twitter and Martin Hewlett, who made my training possible, tweeted this the other day.

"I have seen 2 PT clients today and both were nearly sick training. Either I'm really nasty today or they enjoyed Xmas too much! #timetotrain"

This made me realise that lots of people feel it when they resume training after a break and I felt less guilty than I had been. Lol.

Lee is going to be away for 5 weeks from the end of this month and I'm very fortunate to have Nitai (Tai) willing to continue my training in Lee's absence. Tai has followed my blog and regularly chats to me when I'm at the gym so I know I'm in safe hands and no doubt will be introduced to whole new worlds of pain.

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/


Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second. -William James


There are just under 10 weeks until www.RockSolidRace.com now. So I'm stepping up my training. The biggest area I need to focus on is running. So I've joined a running club. Me. A running club. Who'd have thought it? Exeter City Football Club are starting a beginners group this Thursday. So I've put my name down and will hopefully get some worthwhile miles under my belt. As of next week I will be doing RockSolidCircuits on Monday, PT with Lee on Tuesday and Wednesday or Wednesday and Friday and Running Club on Thursday. And on one of my days off I'm going out for long bike rides. The other day off will be to collapse in a heap somewhere.

I have to say I'm loving the bike rides. So far I've done 3 trips. Each one between 15 and 20 miles. Now the last time I embarked on any serious bike rides I was still at school. And in those days I lived in Manchester. If UK cities were countries for comparative purposes Manchester would be Holland and Exeter would be Nepal. There are many types of hill in Exeter. Long relentless inclines, short steep rises and repetitive hill followed by flat, followed by hill. I find it deeply rewarding that, thanks to my gym work on the bike with Lee, I tackle all these hills with gusto. I went on a bike ride with friends on New Years Day. One of my friends has done a lot of mountain biking but this has been somewhat curtailed in the last 12 months by the arrival of his daughter. He conceded that I was probably fitter than him now. In fact all the friends I was out with said that a few months ago I wouldn't have even contemplated the notion of going for a bike ride any time let alone the day after a big party. And they were all impressed that I not only did it but more than held my own and didn't hold everyone back.





And no it isn't Laa Laa one of the Teletubbies.

Finally I wanted a coffee on Saturday morning on the way to work so called in at Starbucks. It was only after I'd paid £2.50 for my skinny decaf cappuccino with no chocolate sprinkles that I thought "what's the point of that?" So I won't be bothering again and will stick to water or a slice of lemon in hot water. At least with those I know what I'm getting and not paying the earth for a poor substitute of something I really wanted.

Once again if you've made it to here without getting too bored, thanks for following my journey

A (mostly) ever decreasing Dave.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom

Week 10/11 - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Well we are into the month of December and the year is almost done. Yet we cram more into this month than most others in terms of shopping, partying, cooking and cleaning. There is an advert for Asda at the moment showing a mum making several trips there buying food and presents, putting up the tree and decorations, wrapping, making up extra beds and cooking the meal. It has received complaints that it is sexist. But my only criticism would be that she managed to get everything she needed from Asda!! From experience I've found that I always come away from a supermarket having been unable to purchase at least 3 items on my list. Last year I ordered from Tesco online everything I needed to cook Christmas dinner for my team. There was turkey, potatoes, vegetables, stuffing mix etc. I also ordered cartons of ready made gravy. When the delivery driver arrived he felt embarrassed to tell me that they were out of stock on the gravy so they had substituted it with Barbecue Chicken Sauce!!! My guests would've loved that poured over their dinners. Lol.








I had my now annual (well 2nd year running anyway) team Christmas Dinner at my house last week. My first night of drinking alcohol for 8 weeks. Everybody tells me they had a great time and I thoroughly enjoyed myself but the hangover on Sunday was definitely something I haven't missed. The day was a complete waste and it made me realise that in future I'd rather not get so slaughtered that I'm incapacitated the whole next day. Obviously there will still be occasions and events where I'll enjoy myself and not worry but I think after 12 weeks of not doing it the urge to sit at home on a Saturday night and drink up to 2 bottles of wine has passed.

This is one example of the changes I'm making in my life. Routine and repetition create normality. It is a given these days that I get up each morning and prepare my breakfast and lunch as well as taking, and putting aside for later, the numerous vitamins and supplements I now have. I went out for dinner last week but skipped dessert. Not because I felt guilty but because I was full. Trust me normally that wouldn't have stopped me and I'd 'find' room!!

The training in the last couple of weeks has picked up the pace somewhat. Lee is throwing more at me with shorter rests and I'm pleased to say I'm sticking with it. For example last week instead of just rowing 100m with 30 seconds rest then going again for 7 rounds this time I rowed 100m then straight off and 20 seconds of press ups (approx 12). Then straight back on the rower for another 100m and off again for 20 seconds of shoulder presses. Straight back to 100m row then 20 seconds of squats with a 25kilo dumbbell. Once I'd finished that I had a minute's rest before repeating. Then another minutes rest and a final third set. In total I rowed 900 metres, did 36 press ups, approx 36 shoulder presses and 36 squats. In about 12 minutes. After this I did a Tabata session of 20 seconds of lunges followed by a plank for 20 seconds followed by 20 seconds rest x 8. I've now done 12 weeks (24 sessions) with Lee and I'm proud that I haven't skipped training once in that time.

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/

But here's the thing. I'm starting to notice my body more. When I do press ups I'm holding my core and my arms aren't wobbling from the first one. Those first 2 sets of 12 I did were fine but the last few of the final set were draining. And I can feel the beginnings of biceps and triceps. I'm not claiming to have the "guns" just yet but there is definitely something harder there that was extremely soft before.

On Monday Ash was watching me train a similar session to the one I described above and felt I should come to RockSolidCircuits. This is a circuits session at University of Exeter Sports Hall run by Martin Hewlett and aimed at people doing www.RockSolidRace.com. It is described thus:

10 stations, 25 reps on each station, repeat x 4
Giving 100 reps on each station
Against the clock - 35 minutes
Only one person managed it last time.

So wish me luck folks as I'm doing it this Monday. Lee is going to do it with me for support. If you do it already and read this before Monday please don't judge me too harshly. Lol.

I have a friend, Chris, who has lost an amazing 56lbs over the last few months. He was telling me the other day he now spends 10 hours a week in the gym. It is addictive. But as it's Christmas I thought I'd share a story about Chris from a few years ago. Not sure if it translates from a spoken story to somebody reading it but here goes anyway.

Chris went to a works Xmas party a few years back and needed to book a taxi to get home. Every company he tried said the same thing. Nothing available for at least 2 hours (it was the weekend before Xmas). The quickest driving route was 3 junctions up the M60 motorway, approx 4 miles. Having had a few (several) drinks Chris reasoned with himself that he could walk along the hard shoulder and cover the distance quicker than waiting for a taxi. So he set off and made steady progress. He was maybe 800 metres from the slip road when a police car pulled up alongside him. The officer wound down his window and sternly said "get in" to which Chris replied "you're alright mate, I'm getting off at the next junction". Needless to say it wasn't so much an offer as a demand so Chris was driven off and dumped at the bottom of the slip road despite his pointing out that "they may as well drop him off at home now as its only another 2 minutes up the road".

Finally I've been mentioning for weeks about getting a bike. Well it finally got sorted and I picked it up yesterday. This Saturday is our work Xmas party but I'm hoping I feel fresh enough the next morning to go for a ride before settling in for the afternoon watching the Manchester derby match. Come on you Reds.





As always thanks for reading

An ever decreasing Dave.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom

Week 9 - Row, Row, Row My Boat

The start of my Monday night PT session coincides with the end of RockSolidCircuits at the University of Exeter Sports Hall. These circuit training sessions, run by Martin Hewlett, are tough enough as they are, but some people then come into the gym afterwards to do weights. Hats off to those people.

Ash, the man behind www.rocksolidrace.com, came into the gym on Monday to watch me train and decided to take some video of me on the rower. Lee had given me a programme rowing 100 metres in under 22 seconds, followed by 40 seconds rest. This is then repeated for a further 7 rounds. Sounds easy doesn't it. Well it's not!! The first few are okay but by number 5 you are still recovering from number 4 when you have to go again. God it's tough. Below is a link to the video Ash took. 2 things you should know. First the footage shows me on the 7th round with one to go. Second Lee would like me to point out he's not chatting up some girl in the background, merely answering her question. Lol. I can vouch for this as often people in the gym don't realise the instructors are in the middle of a one-to-one session and just need a quick answer to their questions.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=em-share_video_user&v=GILUbxhvXrM&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGILUbxhvXrM%26feature%3Dem-share_video_user&gl=GB

And yes it was every bit as tough as my reaction suggests. The previous day I had bit the bullet and decided, as I'm entering a 10k race, I should start doing some running. I arrived at the gym fully intent on doing 3k on the treadmill as a starting point. I warmed up as usual on the cross trainer but instead of the normal 5 minutes, I decided as I was in no rush, I would carry on for 20 minutes before moving onto the treadmill. That done I began my run and set the pace at a steady 9kmh. I ran for 20 minutes to reach 3k but felt okay so slowed the pace to 6kmh and put the incline up to 2.0 and continued like this for another 5 minutes. I was still feeling okay so increased the pace back up and continued until just before I reached 5k when I then sprinted for the last 30 seconds. In the end I ran 5.04km in a time of 34 minutes. This gives me hope that I can master the running skills needed in the next 16 weeks. I'm sitting here writing this on Thursday evening having so far since Sunday done a 5k run and 2 x 1 hour sessions with Lee and I fully intend to do another 5k on the treadmill this Saturday.

I'm beginning to understand I'm capable of more than I think. I watched a programme on the Team Sky cycling team and in it a sports psychologist talked about the monkey in the brain that tells you it's time to quit and that you can learn to control it and overcome it. Bradley Wiggins, unsurprisingly, swears at his!!! But the point is I'm now listening to my body rather than my mind when exercising. I know it's tough. I know it hurts. But I also know it will be over soon. And if I still have the ability to do it I haven't reached the point of failure so I can carry on.

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/

But the gains are there. I went clothes shopping yesterday and tried on shirts that were size Large. Large!! That for me is progress. Before I embarked on this everything in my wardrobe that fitted me was XXL. So large is a great improvement. And a brilliant feeling. I met up with a friend in Oxford yesterday who I last saw at the end of March when I went to a wedding. Below is a comparison picture from the wedding to yesterday. When I saw the pictures taken at the wedding I was horrified at how I looked and maybe this was the catalyst for me eventually starting the long road to change. But I can see the difference physically now as well as feeling benefits such as more energy, better breathing and better health.






I had another Skype call with Morna Jardine last week and she is very pleased with my progress too. I've agreed to do a mini-detox mid-December and, having looked at what I can and can't eat for the duration, there isn't much I have to do differently to what I'm doing now. With one exception. SALT!!! I'm a big fan of salt. I'd go as far as to say I love it. Those of you of a certain age will remember Salt n Shake crisps from the 70s and 80s. These were unsalted crisps with a little blue salt sachet inside. I seem to recall tipping the contents of this into the bag then, if at home, using the salt pot to add more.

Anyway I know salt is bad for me as it encourages weight gain so I'm cutting back to start with before cutting it out altogether. I know I can do this. I used to drink white coffee with 2 sugars. Then I switched to black coffee with sugar. Then black coffee, no sugar. Now if somebody were to give me sugar in a brew I would find it too sickly sweet and undrinkable. But for now its hard giving up salt as my food tastes so bland without it. However I've discovered if I cry enough tears into my food the salty tears are a good, albeit a soggy substitute.

Check out Morna and what she does here.
http://vital-nutrition.co.uk/about-us/

Another benefit of reducing in size is when I take one of my numerous baths I no longer resemble an iceberg. At the beginning 80% of me was beneath the surface but my belly would jut out above. However my belly now enjoys the warmth of the water every bit as much as my legs and back. Lol.

Finally this week I'm about to break my alcohol fast. I haven't drank any alcohol since my weekend away at the end of September. But this Saturday I'm cooking Christmas dinner for my whole team (11 people including me) and judging by last year's efforts, large quantities of food and drink will be consumed by all. It will be exactly 8 weeks since my last drink so I need to pace myself but I'm looking forward to a night off from being good and I'm not going to worry about it. My next session with Lee is on Monday so I will quickly be back into training mode after the weekend. But I predict Saturday will be messy and I'll get my apologies in now ahead of any misdemeanours.

As always thanks for taking the time to read this

An ever decreasing Dave.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom

Week 7/8. The Good News Just Keeps Coming

I had some great news last week. After possibly my toughest training session so far I was really struggling with my recovery. Usually whilst warming down on the bike and then doing my stretches I have a chat with Lee about my progress but this time I was fairly quiet as my body and heart desperately tried to catch up with the fact that the hard work was over. After ten minutes or so I was beginning to feel better and asked Lee if I could be weighed. We went into the assessment room and I was thrilled to discover I'd lost a further 11lbs in the last 4 weeks. Since beginning with Lee my total weight loss is 11kilos or 24lbs!!! With what I'd already lost from watching what I ate which started a few weeks before then that's a total loss of just over 2 stone. And I'm really chuffed with that. But I'm not finished yet. My long term goal is being able to do the full 10k and not the 5k version of www.rocksolidrace next March. With just under 18 weeks to go its within my capabilities.

I've just watched a BBC1 Inside Out regional programme about a 51 year old presenter who is overweight and diabetic. He had tests, nutritional advice and met up with a PT instructor. His initial concerns was being old and fat in a gym full of fit young people. But, as I've found, nobody pays you that much attention and you are too busy concentrating on the task in hand to worry about what others think. Or so I thought. Tonight a girl who regularly trains when I'm there came up to me to tell me how she's noticed how hard I train and that she's reading my blog. Wow. That was such a good compliment. At such a great moment too as I'd just finished my 3rd circuit and was totally knackered. So if that was you and you are reading this thank you so much.

On the subject of training I've noticed 2 things. Firstly the running is starting to get slightly, and I do mean slightly, easier as I shed pounds. However on the flip side of that the circuit stuff is getting harder because as my technique improves Lee is giving me more weight for the squats, lunges and shoulder presses. But again I am beginning to see the effects. My press ups are so much more controlled and generally, everything is better even if I'm still destroyed immediately after and for the next couple of days.

Unfortunately one problem I've encountered recently is slightly sore knees. Once I've warmed up it does ease off so I'm booked in tomorrow with Martin Hewlett for a sports massage and to assess if there's anything else going on. I can't praise the help and support I'm getting from Exeter University sports faculty enough. Anybody living in Exeter looking for a good gym check them out

http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/

Well Movember is over a third of the way through and my 'paintbrush' is taking shape. I keep forgetting I've got it until my patients pass comment. It is such a worthwhile charity so if anybody does want to make a contribution here are my donation page details

http://mobro.co/davidsmithwick





I got to see Skyfall last week and its fair to say Daniel Craig does sartorial elegance very well. Tailored fitted suits and overcoats look amazing on him. In a non-gay way obviously. Lol. And it got me thinking that setting goals are important for weight loss so why not aspire to get to an endpoint where I could look that good in a suit. Then I remembered even when I was much slimmer I NEVER looked THAT GOOD. Lol. So I'll stick to my original goal for now.







Finally, my blog views for last week was sitting at about 50 when it was shared on the RockSolidRace Facebook page. Since then it has shot up to 120 and I've had some fantastic feedback, follows and friend requests so if you are one of the folks sharing my journey a massive thanks to you all.

Best regards

An ever decreasing Dave.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom