1) Food - My appetite has shot up which is great news. I'm actually getting hungry, and finding it easier to eat healthier foods instead of junk. Yes, I still have the odd bit of bad food - but overall my diet has been much improved with more fruit and veg especially.
2) Alcohol - Since I've started the intensive sessions my desire for a drink has magically shrunk. It hasn't been a conscious decision, I just haven't felt like having one. In the last two weeks I've had a mouthful of wine, and one pint of beer. It was something I wanted to cut down, so I'm pleased one of the side effects is a desire not to drink anyway!
3) Sleep - My body clock is certainly timed with an "early to bed, early to rise" rhythm - but often I would wake up at 3-4am and not be able to get back to sleep. I expect my sleep wasn't of a vey good quality. I'm now taking the supplement ZMA and I can feel the quality of my sleep increase dramatically. After taking it I'll be asleep so quickly, and wake up around 6-7am feeling full of beans! One side effect seems to be crazy, weird, dreams - I haven't experienced anything like this yet.
The sessions are still pretty much cardio-based circuits or runs around the park - and the good news is that being pushed by the PT has really resulted in some real fitness gains. Most noticeable is the number of (full) press-ups I can do (3x12reps) compared to when I started. Yesterday we also worked at full steam for 30 minutes - which was difficult, but do-able. As my PT says, you have to work your body to make it change.
..and change it seems to be doing. My PT took my measurements again and found some interesting changes from those we took a month earlier. My weedy arms didn't change in size and neither did my shoulders or neck. My (apparently very muscular, and big - in a good way) thighs increased a couple of cm's. However, the biggest change came around my waist!
When we took the measurement 4 weeks ago I have to say I was pretty shocked at the reading of 34" - I'd always believed my waist to hover around 32". So, let's allow for a margin of error and say 33". The reading today came back at 30" which is what my waist is when I'm healthy. So, without having to change my lifestyle too much I've already got my waist down to a better size.
I have also purchased some body fat monitor scales so I can start tracking my progress. I know these scales are not 100% reliable - but I seem to be getting fairly consistent results from them so far. Here's my stats:
Height - 5ft 8" / 173cm
Weight - 70kg / 154lbs / 11 stone
Body Fat - 14.5%
I was actually quite surprised and relieved to see my body fat at the healthier end of the healthy scale. It basically means I don't have as much fat as I thought I did, and that aiming for a fat % of 10-11% over the next few months is not an insurmountable task.
My week in re-cap:
MON - 20-min Interval run on treadmill + Body Combat 60-min
TUES - PT - Running Circuit - 60-min
WEDS - REST
THURS - PT - Park Circuit - 60-min
FRI - REST
SAT - PT - Park Circuit - 60-min
SUN - REST
Ideally I would have got another interval run or row in there - but never mind!
..and finally, my progress pictures:
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