The Challenge Begins

Well, my new challenge begins today! The kids are back to school and I am now able to get my life back into some sort of regular routine again – including diet and exercise.

The school holidays, including Christmas and New Year have not been kind to my now advancing middle aged body and I am now at my heaviest weight ever – and feeling it. Time to do something about it.

I have pulled up my old Excel spreadsheet based on Tom Venuto’s "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" ebook that I had used previously to drop some 7 kilograms in my now slimmer past. This time the challenge is far greater, as I am looking at losing a minimum of 11 kilograms and hopefully 14 kilograms. As you can see from the spreadsheet image below, it is not a pretty picture by any means and it is going to take some dedication.

In the end that is all that is required – willpower and dedication (or application). I figure that if I could quit smoking "cold turkey" (as I did a few years ago) then I should be able to stick to my diet and exercise program (without relapses) til I reach my goals.

I took it fairly easy for my first day with a 42 minute bicycle ride, which according to my polar heart rate monitor burned 405 calories, with an average heart rate of 126 bpm and a maximum heart rate of 139bpm, pretty well in my fat burning zone – not too paltry for my first day.

I also carefully monitored my meals and snacks today for a total calorie intake of 1,377, which is fairly low – certainly lower than I had anticipated, especially given that now that I am exercising, my adjusted BMR is around 2,543 calories. If I put all the pieces together, then it gives me a calorie deficit for my first day of 1,571 (equivalent to 0.20 kg), again, more than I would have expected – but a good start all the same. If I maintained this sort of rate I could drop approximately 1kg per week, which is about the top end of the recommended weight loss rate.