Over the past week, I have been trying to get a fitness routine going. Sometimes it's gone well, sometimess....not. I have kept a record of what I've done and what I've eaten and am going to post here these weekly stats (I would like to post my weight as well, but I don't have any scales). The purpose of this is to share with you my progress and get any constructive critisism if I'm doing anything wrong and for somebody to give me a proverbial kick up the backside if I start to lag.
As I said, this will be a weekly update so if the mods have anything against this, I'll stop and only mention anything of note.

So. Here goes.

Week One

Tuesday 12 January

Fitness:-
10:50 20 push ups
12:00-12:10 running
11:30 20 lunges, 20 Squats, 20 Push ups.

Diet:-
11:20 peanut butter on brown toast, 2 slices. Tea. 
12:20 orange. Cheese and onion McCoys. Water. 
4:50 1 slice apple cake.
6:00 Lean lamb steak and parmentiere potatoes cooked in sesame oil with peas and sweetcorn. Water.

Wednesday 13th January

Fitness:-
10:10 10 push ups. 10 squats. 10 lunges
11:10-11:25 Running

Diet:-
10:30 peanut butter on brown toast. Tea. 
5:30 tesco chicken salad sandwich on brown. Raspberry smoothie.
7:00 meatballs and rice. Grand marnier
11:00 fruit cake. Tea

Thursday 14th January

Diet:-
10:30 peanut butter on brown toast. Tea
11:00 cinnamon Danish. Tea
1:10 pork vindaloo. Water
5:30 Grill up: 2 sausages, 2 small slices of black pudding, 2 hash browns, 1 dasher of bacon, 1 poached egg. 

Friday 15th January

Fitness:-
10:15 10 burpees, 10 flies, 10 leg lifts. 
3:35-3:50 running
11:00 10 flies, 10 burpees

Diet:-
10:30 peanut butter on brown toast, 2 slices. Tea
4:00 orange. Water
6:00 quiche.

Saturday 16h January

Fitness:-
7:15 10 squats, 10 lunges
10:00 10 squats, 10 lunges

Diet:-
8:30 fruit scone. Tea.
1:30 steak, chips and salad. Guiness, wine.
8:00 cheese, bread, apple cake, leek and potato soup and countless pickled onions. Lots of cider.

Sunday 17th January

Fitness:-
12:30 10 crunches, 10 leg lifts, 10 biceps curls on each arm, 10 triceps curls on each arm
11:00  10 crunches, 10 leg lifts, 10 biceps curls on each arm, 10 triceps curls on each arm

Diet:-
6:00 roast dinner. Wine.
8:30 yoghurt, crisps. Juice.

Monday 18th January

Fitness:-
3:30 running

Diet:-
11:30 chicken and bacon salad
4:00 Chicken and cheese sandwich
5:00 pizza

there's too much of a gap between meals



you only start eating at 11:30? what happened to breakfast? your metabolism is probably all over the
place because of this

it's better to eat smaller meals but more of them than eat huge meals ... chicken then 1 hour til
pizza (which should be classed as a cheat meal too)

Yeah, I know. That was stupid. I woke up too late to have breakfast, then had food at work. I used to never have breakfast, but recently I've been trying to get up early enough to have it, but it doesn't always work. I'm still trying to get into the mindset about all this and it may take a while, but I'm determined to try.

Doing well. Make sure to get that breakfast in earlier, and keep closing the gaps between meals.

Mike's Fitness Plan;

(a) Learn how not to give a fuck how others see you.
(b) Eat a balanced diet. Good hearty breakfasts. Little alcholhol..fuck it. Booze!
(c) Don't smoke
(d) Fucking WALK occasionally
And finally....
(e) Realise that WHATEVER you do, will NEVER be enough for women.

Trust me. It's much simpler!

If you only want to get a little bit fit, this would work perfectly. If you expect more from yourself, however, a little more work must be done.

Also, getting muscles WAS good enough for a few women in my experience, so take that last point by myers with a pinch of salt.

Mate, you WILL insist on having a go at me won't ya? Yes. I AM A FAT BASTARD. Happy now?

The thing is old chum, I have decide to lose my V card by PAYING for it, as soon as finances will allow. Mate, I am over 40 and have a dicky back. I am simply asking for trouble if I start trying to behave like a 21 year old. I do take excercise - I'm a landscape photographer and so have to wear out a bit of shoe leather. But women are such picky, self centred bitches, that they will always find SOME REASON to turn you down.

So. Here's last weeks diary. It didn't do too well, especially dietwise. On Friday, my legs got a heck of a working out so I skipped the running over the weekend. I think I'm beginning to get used to this kind of lisfestyle. My main problem is my diet. What you see here is only my documented meals. Working as a chef, you end up picking a load of food at work. I'm trying to cut down on this.

Week Two
Tuesday 19th January

Fitness:-
8:30 15 front raises
12:20 15 front raises

Diet:-
8:45 bran flakes
11:30 chicken and bacon salad
4:00 chicken sandwich
5:00 pork fillet with boulangere potatoes and peas and sweetcorn.
11:00 yoghurt. Crisps

Wednesday 20th January

Diet:-
8:45 bran flakes. Tea.
4:00 yoghurt. Crisps
5:00 carrot and coriandar soup. 

Thursday 21st January

Diet:-
10:45: Danish
1:30: chicken sandwich, crisps
5:30: southern fried chicken
7:00: pheasant breast wrapped in streaky bacon with crispy leeks and parmentiere potatoes.

Fitness:-
11:30: 15 burpees, 15 crunches, 15 flies.

Friday 22nd January

Diet:-
11:00 bran flakes. Tea.
12:15 chicken sandwich
4:00 crisps
5:15 chicken nuggets, chips and curry sauce
9:00 bread and butter (White)
11:00 peanut butter and jam on toast, 2 slices.

Fitness:-
10:30 15 lunges, 15 squats
11:45-12:05 running.
3:30 15 squats, 15 lunges
12:00 15 squats, 15 lunges

Saturday 23rd January

Diet:-
9:00 bran flakes. Tea.
11:30 chicken salad. 
3:10 cheese sandwich.
4:45 beef curry
11:00 peanut butter on toast.

Fitness:-
8:45 15 biceps curls. 15 triceps curls
3:00 20 biceps curls, 20 triceps curls.
5:15 20 biceps curls, 20 triceps curls.
10:30 20 biceps curls, 20 triceps curls. 

Sunday 24th January

Diet:-
11:30 beef salad
5:00 roast dinner

Monday 25th January

Fitness:-
10:00 15 crunches, 15 leg lifts, 20 lateral raises
11:55-12:15 running
2:45 15 crunches, 15 leg lifts, 20 lateral raises
5:00 15 crunches, 15 Lego lifts, 20 lateral raises

Diet:-
10:00 bran flakes
12:30 peanut butter on toast (1 brown, 1 White)
3:00 double chocolate muffin
6:30 chicken stuffed with cheese and wrapped in streaky bacon served with lyonaisse potates on a bed of garlic leeks.
8:00 coconut bar thingy.

You're doing well, just keep going and keep getting slowly more strict with the diet, and more intense with the training. Give yourself a cheat day too (que, Newhope).

Just remember to alternate your workout and switch it around every month or so, or else your body's going to start getting too used to the routine. Like if you were doing a lot of running, do bicycling or swimming. Swimming is great for building upper-body strength.

good

I am noticing here and on other threads, not very much comments on fresh fruits and green vegetables. I would admit that maybe I'm a fanatic, and I have beliefs that can't be proven, but I think that some of these items should be added to everyone's list:

- Soluble fiber. All fruits are loaded with soluble fiber, which is the healthiest kind of fiber. The soluble fiber is in the fruit part, not the skin, so you can peel the fruit if you want. I cannot tolerate too much insoluble fiber which is things like fruit skin, celery, etc., so I peel all fruits and vegetables, and I cook celery, carrots, green beans etc. in soups and stews. According to some theories soluble fiber actually helps your body to eliminate harmful fats in your bloodstream through some complex chemical reactions that I don't understand.

- Insoluble fiber. As I said I chop finely and cook vegetables with a lot of insoluble fiber such as celery, beans etc. I make lots of soups and stews in the crockpot with a big mix of vegetables and some meat such as chicken or beef round steak chopped into cubes. A lot of people can't tolerate raw onions or garlic but when they are cooked into stews or sauces they are fine.

- Green vegetables. I eat a lot of asparagus and brussels sprouts. I do not like broccoli as much but I eat it sometimes. I usually roast/steam these vegetables in the microwave in a covered Pyrex glass bowl for a short time only. According to the health food fanatics, these kind of vegetables are very healthy. You have to get used to them, but now asparagus is one of my favorite foods, and I usually buy 1 bunch fresh per week, cook it all at once, and eat some each day. You have to be careful not to overcook these sorts of vegetables or else they taste terrible.

Interesting point. I do like fruit and veg and I much prefer it raw than cooked. In fact I think I'd rather have an apple than a snickers. I try to eat as much as I can (though at the moment our fruit bowl is looking a little empty), or as much as I should. If I can throw in some advice here, being a chef and all, the best way to cook most veg is to bung it in boiling water (preferably salted, I think it raises the temperature as well as giving flavour) and take it out when it come back to the boil; rather than put it in cold water then boiling it. This is true for peas, corn, pods and the like. For florets (cauli and brocoli etc.) cook for a little longer. There are a few exceptions and the general rule of thumb is that if it grows below ground (potatoes, carrots, parsnips etc.) cook from cold, but if it grows above ground cook from boiling. The reason for this is that if you overcook it all the goodness in dissolved in the water and what you get may as well be nothing. This is why casseroles and stews are a good thing as all the goodness is still kept in there.

I may also have a mid week update. It may be my imagination or wishful thinking, but my arms may be getting bulkier in a good way, the same with my legs. I still have quite a bit of fat around the middle that will take some working to get rid of.

Feels good eh? Wait till the results really start flowing in the next few months, your general confidence will skyrocket.