Week 1 Summary Report - Nutrition - Excercise - Weight

I can't believe that I am at the end of week 1 training for the Great Scottish Run.  9 to go. It's been a very active week and I am feeling very tired.  Friday night, I was supposed to be meeting family in the evening but after dinner, put my head down for half an hour and crashed out for over 2!

But this having been said, I really feel like I have accomplished a lot. In the space of 1 week, I have knocked nearly 4 mins off of my 4k time and managed 3 runs and a swim.

In terms of nutrition, I have not been dieting as such (ie not following a strict plan) but I have been watching what I eat and have tried to make some sensible choices. So not snacking on crisps or chocolate and when going out, choosing sensible foods.  I have been feeling quite hungry at times but I do not feel like I am starving myself, opting to snack on fruits through the day then eating my main meal at night, then not anything at all till next day. A summary of foodstuffs is listed below (I kept a diary and researched the calories) but first lets look at the weight figures...

I am using the Wii fit to gauge my weight, which last week was recorded at 105kg (16st 7lb) and with a BMI of 30.65, this placed me solidly over the obesity line. I have set myself a target to get myself down to 95kg (14st 13lb) for the Great Scottish Run.

This week, I recorded a weight of 103.4 (16st 3lb), a loss of 1.6kg (3.5 / 4lbs), which means I am well within my target of losing 1kg per week. I am absolutely delighted with this result which really shows that even after just 1 week, I am making progress on weight loss.  The BMI result for this is 30.18, which places me "Just" over the obesity line.  If I have another result like this next week though, I will be just below it, meaning that I can officially claim to be "overweight" - woohoo! - Party time next week then - Maybe I will reward myself with a fish supper!

So with delight at the weight loss, I did the full body test to determine my Wii Fit age. This came in at 38, which makes me -1.  Not bad for an obese IT Consultant who has just pulled his ass off the sofa a week ago!

Nutritionally, as stated, I am not following a particular plan but if my Recommended Daily Amount is 2,500 calories, then anything I get under the 2000 must be a result and I intend to let the exercise do the rest.

The nutritional information for the week is...

Weekend:

Saturday			Sunday
Subway (Low Fat Range)	350		Yoghurt	99
Pizza (500 cal range)	468		Brunch Bar	165
Salad	200		Cake (1/2 Slice)	150
Pizza (Pizza Hut Slice x 2)	400		Carvery Meal	900
Magners	235		Diet Coke	3
Diet Coke	3		Tea	20
Diet Irn Bru	3
Daily Total	1659		Daily Total	1337

Saturday - after my first run, I went to Subway where I made my first sensible choice. Ordering a sandwich from the low fat range and a diet coke. Later, while at Pizza Hut with my family, I again chose sensibly by taking an order from their 500 calorie range and having a bowl of salad with low fat Caesar dressing and again, drinking diet drinks. Later in the evening, my band (Early Bells) were playing a gig so I felt compelled to have a Magners with Ice but stuck to water and diet drinks thereafter.  However, once I got home, there were 2 slices of a pizza left over from the day's pizza hut and I crumbled so 400 calories penalty there.

Sunday - had a light breakfast and for lunch had a cup of tea and a small slice of cake. Reflecting on this, I should have also taken a sandwich or something but I knew I was going out that evening for a carvery meal. I went for a swim before the carvery and I was really hungry before I got there - definitely should have taken a better lunch.  At the carvery I made a couple of sensible choices - I took a regular meal (not the usual king size), I ordered only turkey meat as I know this is low in fat, chose a really small Yorkshire pudding (less than 1/2 size) and stocked up on vegetables. The Toby Carvery website has really good nutritional information.

Working Week (Mon-Wed): 

Monday			Tuesday			Wednesday
Yoghurt	99		Yogurt	99		Porridge	256
Brunch Bar	165		Brunch Bar	165		Latte	150
Skinny Latte	115		Latte	150		Grapes	175
Orange	45		Orange	45		Orange	45
Banana	90		Banana	90		Ham Salad Sandwich	365
Apple	45		Apple	45		Tea	20
Cupasoup	80		Turkey Curry	265		Bobotie	410
Tea	20		Sausages/potatoes/Beans	600		Green Beans	50
Turkey Curry	265		Tea	20		Cocktail Sausage Roll	50
Rice	225
Nan Bread	175
Coffee	25
Nutty Bites	60
Daily Total	1409		Daily Total	1479		Daily Total	1521

Monday - Tried to make a sensible choice of a skinny latte but this was positively disgusting. I don't know how people can drink it so I will be sticking to my semi skimmed version going forward. Everything else is quite sensible. Yogurt and Brunch Bar for breakfast, banana, apple and cupasoup for lunch then a sensible meal in the evening.  The Turkey Curry is recipe from CSIRO, who have an excellent weight loss programme that I used before, so I know that the curry is healthy.

Tuesday - Had the leftovers for lunch, and kept the banana and apple for snacking.  Sensible choice at night on the sausages, normally I would have 4 but I chose to take only 2. Usually, I would have butter mash, but opted for boiled potatoes and the beans that would normally be 1/2 the tin, we more like a 1/3.

Wednesday - Starting taking instant Porridge pots to work. At 256 calories, they are more than enough for breakfast and really fill you up.Later at night, had Bobotie, which is a South African dish from a recipe in the ASDA magazine - really tasty and not too heavy on the calories for a main meal.  The cocktail sausage was because I baked a batch for a charity fundraiser for the Payback Foundation / Asthma UK and Marie Currie. Normally a successful taste test would consist of a sample of 6, but sensible choice - just had the 1!

Working Week (Thu/Fri):  

Thursday			Friday
Porridge	256		Yogurt	99
Latte	150		Brunch Bar	165
Apple	45		Diet Coke	3
Orange	45		Fish Finger Sandwich	350
Banana	90		Plum	42
Bobotie (1/2 portion)	205		Tea	20
Diet Coke	3		Latte	150
Tea	20		Soup	120
Chili Con Carne	270		Carvery	900
Rice	225		Nutty Bites	60
Tortilla Chips	125
Coffee	25
Daily Total	1459		Daily Total	1909

Thursday - Quite a normal day. The tortilla chips were just a small handful to accompany the chili, which I was happy with as they are highly calorific!

Friday - Had a bit of a bad day here really. The fish finger sandwich was ok but the 2 course Carvery meal killed the effort for the day really. I think it is ok to have occasional days like this, as long as they are the exception and not the rule.

So, in total, calories for the week are 10773 which works out at 1539 average per day. I am really happy with this as it is well below my 2000 target.


The below table shows the exercise summary for the week:

Day	Activity	Distance	Time	Calorie Burn
Sat	Run	4k	00:31:00	488
Sun	Swim	400m	01:00:00	257
Mon	Rest			0
Tue	Run	4k	00:29:20	557
Wed	Rest			0
Thu	Run	4k	00:27:41	554
Fri	Rest			0
Total Burn/Week				1856

So in total, over the week, the average balance of calories for each day was (10773 - 1856) / 7 = 1, 274

For sure, I am happy with the weight loss and I feel fitter but looking at this figure, I do have a concern that I am needing to eat a bit more. Based on the Recommended 2,500 calories for a man, I am currently operating to half of that although. This is very interesting and I will research this topic at some point through the week.

Targets for next week:

1. Start Running 5k
2. If I do a swim, up the meters to 500.
3. Get to below the Obesity line on the Wii Fit.