Boy have I been procrastinating on this blog post. The first version is over 5 months old. I haven’t wanted to post it as I know when I do I am totally accountable for what comes next.
I’ve lamented my weight gain over the past 4 years and every year I have said how health was my number 1 goal, only to do nothing about it.
But it’s time. Time to stop talking and just do.
Unlike my betting journey where I just threw myself over the edge and knew I could build my wings on the way down (or die trying), with my health I have just read about all the things I could be doing (without actually doing them). The funny thing is, weight loss is the easiest possible maths problem there is.
Weight loss/gain = calories in – calories out
Yes, for all you fitness junkies out there, there is so much more to it. But as with betting, I’m aiming to use the Pareto principle. Find the 20% off things that give me 80% of the results.
If you think talking about betting makes the crazies come out of the woodwork, you wait until you look into the fitness industry. Everyone has a different opinion on what you should be doing and there is so much confirmation bias going on it boggles the mind.
My weight
I’ve always loved tracking things and my weight is no different. For the past 6 and a half years I have used a scale to record my weight. As you can see, in 2012 I was pretty healthy, I was playing a few games of indoor soccer per week, going for 6-8k runs 3-5 times a week, at the gym 3 times a week and eating pretty well. My lowest weight was around 81 kilos (I’m 6’1). You can see me slowly put weight on until I reach a peak of 103 kilos in 2016. Hitting over 100 kilos spurred me into action for a good 3-4 months before settling back into the 95-100 kilo range. This pattern really isn’t new, I was a fat kid, lost some weight at uni, put it all back on and more (110 kilos at one stage) and than lost it all again.
I now lead a very sedentary lifestyle. Sitting in front of a computer most of the day and getting little to no exercise.
Injuries
I’m no longer a spring chicken. In a few years, I will be celebrating the big four 0. With age (and me not looking after my body) come pain and injuries. I played indoor soccer for over 20 years. For most of that time, I was playing 3 to 5 games per week. That takes a massive toll on the human body.
When I was younger, I also ruined my spine (I didn’t know it at the time). From either BMX riding or falling off something. That resulted in my L5 (lower back) being pushed right in. For the past 10 years, when I walk for more than 10-15 minutes, I get sciatica in my right leg and need to sit down and stretch before I can walk again. My options are pretty limited in repairing it. I can either get a cortisone shot or have surgery. These are both not really recommended for my age. In other words, I need to just deal with the pain.
I could go on with lots of other injuries I have, but let’s just say, things hurt.
What I’m doing about it
None of these injuries is an excuse for being unhealthy. They are just things that I need to keep in mind when trying to get healthy. Here is what I plan on doing to try and get healthy again (and once again for all you fitness guys, I do not want your advice. I know I will do things wrong and when I do I will try to course correct. Like everyone else, if I want help I will ask for it).
Exercise
My chiro told me my back is so bad that I should not even pick up shopping bags ever again (that went over well with my better half). My back is a mess, which limits the sort of exercise I can do. Stopping indoor soccer was one of the hardest things for me to do. I loved playing but after a game, it took me 5 days before I could walk properly again. So I have to be smart on the type of exercise I do.
That means doing things that put no pressure on the back. That is why when Aldi’s had a spin bike for sale 2 weeks ago, I went and bought one. I’ll be on the bike while watching youtube and sports. I’ll also do some HIIT (high-intensity interval training) and follow along to some spin classes online.
I also have an all in one gym at home and will be doing weights 3 times a week. Swimming laps may be added when summer approaches.
Eating
There are a million and one different approaches to “dieting”. I’m sure finding the right approach for me will take time. For now, I’ll be doing keto and intermittent fasting. Keto just means eating less than 20 grams of carbs per day and a heap of fat. Intermittent fasting is only eating during a small time period. For me, that means between 12 and 8 pm.
I’ll talk more about all this sort of stuff in the monthly updates. But I want to find something that I can do for the rest of my life (and keto probably isn’t it).
What’s the end goal?
There is no real end or goal. I’d love to be able to walk for an hour without pain (but that’s unlikely). I’d like to have a sixpack (but that is even more unlikely). Honestly, I just want to feel better and be healthy. For my height, anything under 85 kilos puts me in the correct weight range. So I guess that can be my 1st target. After that, it will be finding a plan I can follow for the next 40 years that will keep me as healthy as possible.
Updates each month
I can’t overstate how important my weekly and now monthly betting updates were to improve as a punter. By tracking and analysing my results each week and putting them out in public for everyone to see, it made me work much harder. There is plenty of science that backs this up. So just like with my betting numbers, I will be updating my health numbers. That means you will see photos of my fat arse at the start and end of every month (I apologise in advance). You will see all my numbers and all my mistakes as well.
Unlike betting, where I can do everything right and still lose money, with my health, as long as I do things correctly, there is no doubt the numbers will go in the directions I want.
We all know the basics we need to do when betting or losing weight. Track our odds (weight), get the best odds (eat the best food), put in the effort (exercise). But just like betting, the thing that turns you into a winner is the psychological aspect of it. That is by far the hardest part.
On August 13th I started this journey. I weighed 98.6 kilos.