One Month ...

...  and one third of the way. We're switching up again and it's only to get more challenging as time goes on. I know some will relish this challenge, but let me present an alternative.

Further Anal-ysis

Once again, my anally retentive nature has produced a wealth of useful progress-tracking data. That first week, is still a remarkable blip, but was a nice way to get started. As previously noted, that drop is somewhat unfair, as I was up more than a kilo from my typical morning weight on June 1st. Nevertheless that was the starting weight, so it counts (like taking a deliberately bad 'before photo' with shoddy lighting and a bad haircut and red eyes to make the 'after' look even better).

Now that we're all friends I can reveal that a significant portion of that initial loss (I would estimate 600g+) was accounted for through a swift but unusually prodigious dump that went crowned-to-drowned in under 3 seconds on the afternoon of June 2nd. It stays in my memory as the sensation was at once alarming and inspiring, terrifying but fundamentally satisfying (unlike so many of the more recent puny little bowel-movements).

In any case, the later weeks' progress has been much more measured but very much in the right direction. I seem to have dispensed with a further 2kg of pure fat and we're not even a third of the way through yet. After 10 days of grudging admission that I had, in fact, achieved a body fat percentage of 18%, Mr. Tanita finally had to concede that yet another percent was gone. So without further ado, je te présente le graphe:

Indulgence = Tastiness + Minor Nausea

To be honest, when I read that we were "allowed" an indulgence, I didn't feel inspired. I haven't been craving any particular food.

I am a booze-hound, but I'm really not feeling attracted to the idea of alcohol at the moment; I prefer drinking in company and recognise that when I stop at two glasses, my friends won't. Stopping drinking after two in company is harder than not drinking at all in my view.

So, maybe I'll save that for the next one. However, Patrick's mention of cheesecake put me in mind of Banoffe which I rarely get to eat and is not all that common in Australia. With a little research I found out the excellent Cafe Sopra makes one so decided that would be my mission for a Sunday mid-morning snack.

Behold Banoffe - in all her biscuity, banana-ey, caramelly, creamy, chocolate sprinkly awesomeness!

It was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite over 15 minutes. My friend, Jo, ate about a quarter of it, but I relished the rest. I also had two coffees. Now, I haven't been drinking much coffee lately and found after an hour and a half that I felt a little nauseous. I'm not sure if it was the cake or the coffees but in any case, it wasn't horrible and I got through it.

I also picked up some excellent Italian pasta (no sodium, low GI) for later and half-a-dozen bottles of Santa Vittoria sparkling mineral water. PARTY!!!

New Exercises HURT

I genuinely think I did myself an injury on those V-sits; they seriously hurt my stomach and I think I ruptured something.

I was in quite a bit of pain, so I got my friend Larry to drive me to the medical centre. My other mate Quentin tagged along for the ride, and, got some embarrassing footage of me "belly-aching". Oh well, I suppose we're supposed to document the downs as well as the ups, so here it is:

http://youtu.be/IPThI4rrpLs

But Seriously ...

I notice I haven't posted anything about my actual progress in a little while. Generally, it's going well. I'm getting into the pattern of cooking and shopping on a regular basis and feel life has taken on a more cruisey pace. All expectations that I would have lots of free time have dissipated - it seemed like it on the first week but never since. Eating out and socialising have been passable (reduced but not eliminated). I just try to get fish or meat and a side of steamed veggies (though never quite trust that the only added ingredient is steam). When with drinking buddies I don't mind a soda-water if they can tolerate a dry-shite in their midst.

Getting started on the training each morning is hard but I always get through at least one of the strength or cardio exercises before work and get to the other after. Possibly not ideal but manageable.

• Skipping still requires short breaks for catching breath and tripping, but the runs are longer and the breaks are shorter.
• Push-ups still feel weak. On toes I'm not getting a real deep lowering and have to fail back to knees on the third and fourth sets. But I do flesh out the reps when this is necessary.
• Incline Pull-ups are still very tough and I'm only getting through two sets cleanly. Third set is half-motion and fourth is just a sort of vague strain that is wilfully upwards.
• Sit-ups are okay for the first set but become crunches in the second and later sets. I have a question for Patrick about this.
• Lunges are difficult and boring, but actually easier now that I'm returning to full standing position between each rep.
• Everything else is fine. Resistance bands make it easy to find a place which requires a lot of effort but is doable.

And that's it. No injuries, illnesses, excessive hunger or cravings to speak of. I'm a bit of a boring prick but I can live with that for a few months. I can always get back to being a grumpy, arrogant, dipsomaniac arsehole afterwards if I still feel like it.

Beware of Farmers

For those of you going to the farmers' markets for fresh produce this weekend, remember they're all scamming bastards after a quick buck.

Day # 21: I want to look like Gillian McKeith so ...

Breakfast:

Also, snacks, lunch and dinner!