This weeks weigh in, Bokwa and eating healthily on a budget

Weighed in yesterday instead of my normal class on a Monday and I was up 1.5lb and to be fair I was expecting more as I said in the weekend blog that my hip caused me a lot of problems over the weekend which caused me to comfort eat, it wasn't crap that I ate but I was constantly eating and this can easily happen and come Sunday lunchtime I drew the line, I've promised myself that this week that I get back to basics, keep a positive attitude and set a good example for the people I inspire, since Boney's funeral the 1st week in June ive actually piled on 9lb how the fuck can I inspire people when I struggle myself so now it's back to the drawing board, start food prepping again and get back to the gym, my hip right now cannot handle a 5k without using Nordic Sticks and that basically means no treadmill, that's not a bad thing as I can walk to my gym(2.65km) do a little treadmill work and do weights and i'm incorporating Bokwa into my fitness.

On Monday, I participated in a charity Bokwa session with the Slimwithdan slimming world groups in aid of the Marie Keating foundation which fights cancer in Ireland in Finglas, beforehand I watched a few youtube videos on Bokwa and it looked fun. What is Bokwa?  It's a bit like zumba but you move to the alphabet while moving to the music and its high intense, total non stop for 60 minutes and you melt fat doing it, I burned 732 calories in a Bokwa class and I never done it before, most people's excuses not to go to the gym or an exercise class is that it's boring, I can tell you now that Bokwa ain't boring which is why after the session I made the decision to take it up on a regular basis as well as my traditional gym sessions and will be doing it on a Tuesday evening in the Liberties in South Central Dublin and have an option of doing it in Pearse St on a Friday also. You can burn more calories having fun doing Bokwa than spending an hour on the treadmill at 6km/h avg 5% grad and the Bokwa instructors made me and everyone who did the class very welcome and quite a few have decided to take it up.

When it comes to making excuses about not losing weight when they need to, join a weight loss group or incorporate a healthy eating plan is down to money, I did a weeks food shop today of lean protein (canned tuna,turkey, chicken and 98% fat free beef mince), fruit and veg, eggs and greek yoghurt for 35 euros, all on plan and I know what is going into my body now tell me you can't afford to eat right BULLSHIT, if I can eat clean on a budget so can you. Would you rather save money eating cheap processed foods or would you rather keep spending money on medication and doctors fees (it's 50 euros a visit in Ireland) because your nutrition isn't the best

The pic i'm posting was my calorie burn, avg HR and max HR during Bokwa

This weeks weigh in, a lucky break and hopes for the week ahead

Back in the real world after a few days in the beautiful island of Inishbofin and visiting my sister and finally got to meet my nephew's wife and it went well and after a week of dirty eating (5 days of fry-ups for breakfast, mountains of bread,1/2 pound burgers with 2 large deep fried onion rings to compliment, enough chips to run a chip shop lol and some mouth watering desserts) i'm only up 2.5lb but I also did plenty of walking (must have covered 40-45km) and that was a lucky break as I was expected to be up as high as 7lb. At the end of the day I cannot expect to be clean eating when I'm on my jollies and i'm fully entitled to eat what I want while I'm away and if people have a problem with that I don't really give a flying fuck, just because I'm fighting addiction doesn't mean I lose my right to enjoy myself when I pay my hard earned money to go away for a few days with Jenny,  I know mentally and physically I can claw it back and more because I want this and no one will stop me from achieving it.

As I said in my last blog that I'll be hoping to do a Pop-Up 5km in Naas on Saturday morning (depending on my hip but as of now I'm definitely up for it) and next Monday I'm doing Bokwa for charity, both are for the Marie Keating foundation on behalf of Slimming World who are always doing charitable things and i'm looking forward to it.

Have an A1 week everyone

This weeks weigh in, another breakdown and the future for me with exercise

Weighed in at a class in Donnycarney Monday just gone and the good weekend back home cost me a 3.5lb gain and I accepted that, only a good food prep minimised the damage but at the same time I'm only human and i'm entitled to enjoy an old favourite now and again and I don't regret a single thing as I know I can claw it back and I will do as I never doubt myself and was back on track straight after weigh in.

Did a 5.5km walk last night from home to Donaghmede and back via Darndale Roundabout and my hip gave in again clise to Kilbarrack Fire Station the same place I pulled up in February and I have to seriously think about the way I get my fitness in and I know my hip isn't able for 5km+ walks now but instead of only doing pool work and weights, I will still go walking but restrict to only doing 3km max and my gym workouts will continue but cardio will be 3x 15mins on the treadmill at 5.3km/h with a max of 10% and do full on weights (leg days will only be once a week not twice) and will look into Aqua Aerobics too. I will do the odd trek but only if I feel 100% on the day as I cannot afford to fuck up half way around a trek especially as I could be stranded.

I'm feeling ok mentally and i'm in positive spirits

The weekend, a non scale victory and hopes for tomorrow

Thought I write this as I'm heading back to Dublin from a weekend in London where I got to see 2 of my all time fave bands (Black Sabbath and Soundgarden) in London's Hyde Park and it was a bit of a test when it comes to food as I do go past temptations like Gregg's bakers, traditional pie n mash shops and other places where some of the damage that caused me to have this food addiction, one thing about me going to my slimming class and using social media and what I have learned is doing a complete food prep, this way I'm in total control and I managed to have some form of control while in London but at the gig venue, food prep went totally out of the window as 1. me and jen decided to have a full on lunch before going and 2. The security at Hyde Park were complete and utter bastards, you couldn't even bring a packet of chewing gum or a bottle of water without them confiscating it.

As for eating in the venue itself there was plenty of choices ranging from burgers, Mexican, Indian, pasta, fish and chips and even vegan food and most of the delicious offerings are not on my current plan so I was kind of forced to pull in a flexi-day and had the jalapeño burger, the good side to Friday was I got in plenty of walking and the same as yesterday when me and Jen went to Camden Market and Oxford Street and my hip was playing up so I sat down for a few minutes in Camden Lock and next to me there was a guy eating a Chimichanga (a deep fried burrito that tastes too damn good) and that was so unfair but I remained strong, did go for a Mexican in Chimichangas in North Finchley and I enjoyed it and I think I have done enough to warrant a weight loss tomorrow as my food was 100% throughout during the week, back exercising and got in some good sleep too (to me sleep is just as important as you can burn up to 300 calories an hour according to to the Jawbone Up band which I have, will weigh in at a class in Donnycarney instead as I'm travelling overnight and I want to get some decent rest before and I feel good mentally and physically and I will promise myself that no matter the result tomorrow I will jump off the scales with my head held high.

I finish off with a before and current photo of myself just to show the total progress I have made since December 2012 when I could only get into t-shirts in 5XL and 3XL football jerseys and now I can get into an XL no problem and treated myself to a Heisenberg Heineken shirt yesterday and I feel good in it, there is gonna be obstacles in any weight loss journey but it's totally up to you to rise above them and crush it

A slight change of plan foodwise

While I was in Cappagh Hospital yesterday, the doctor asked me what my normal diet was I was a little shocked that certain staples like acidic fruit, tomatoes, peppers and even potatoes were triggering my inflammation plus red meat (I do love a medium rare steak myself), the new plan is to still have the fruit and veg as it's vitally important regarding my weight loss plan but obviously limit it, as for red meat I'll probably only have a steak once a month  as a treat and when I have a chilli or a bolognese have it with extra lean turkey mince (all my chillies are done with turkey anyway), as for fizz I'll be phasing it out permanently, the main protein source will be chicken, turkey, fish and post-workout musclepharm combat protein shakes

If this helps me regarding pain and i'll be happy to continue, doing this on a 1 month trial and see if there is any improvement, also doing a food journal which all my instagram followers will get to see every evening, you can find me there @beavis420 as I find there is no negativity there unlike facebook (yes facebook can be seriously bitchy and I had to remove many comments and people because of it)

Today's weigh in and todays visit to Cappagh

Weighed in 2 hours later than normal because I had my first appointment at the Muscular Skeletal Clinic in Cappagh Hospital Dublin regarding my bastard hip and the news is that I have osteoarthritis on the right side of my hip which basically means the the joints attached to my hip and thigh bones are this fucked that the bones are touching together causing me pain and that I will definitely need a new hip as soon as I can, the only downside is that because of my age I will need a 2nd replacement in 10-15 years time but I now know what I'm getting myself in for.

Back to weight loss, weighed in and was 0.5lb up and i'm happy with that as I was dealing with constant pain and was expecting the worst so coming off the scale with a positive mindset and i'm ready to kick some fucking ass this week and I will come back from London (gonna see the legendary Black Sabbath original line-up with Ozzy himself) with a loss

Have an A1 week

Eating out/Takeaways while doing Slimming World and hope it brings

When someone starts off their slimming world journey and the discussion on how many syns you are allowed (a member gets 15 syns a day to use on treats like chocolate or other naughty treats while I normally use syns on my post-workout musclepharm combat protein shakes or a quest protein bar but have the occasional bar of chocolate or a bag of buffalo flavoured hunky dorys), when it comes to meeting friends for lunch or having a weekend takeaway you are normally limited unless you are willing to overload your syns and that could end up messing up your weight loss but thanks to the power of social media there is help, slimming world members tend to go for the safe option of getting chicken/beef in black bean sauce, boiled rice and a side salad and that would only use up 5 syns but my usual takeaway from the Chinese would use up a possible 2-3 days syns (salt and chilli prawns with chips at 40 syns) so I make my own fakeaway instead, recently Slimming World brought out a cookbook called Fakeaways and you can eat your favourite takeaways made from home and still stay on plan. This was a masterstroke by Slimming World and me and Jennifer has enjoyed some cracking meals from it.

Another problem while keeping to plan is eating out during the day and in the evening and now cafe owners in Ireland have took the initiative and started doing a slimming world friendly menu, I can name 3 cafes right now that do this as the head chefs/owners are members of slimming world, not only it's a good business move for them but it also gives members peace of mind when ordering food knowing they are still on plan and there is more cafes doing this now.

Finishing off with a pic of 2 meals me and Jennifer had this lunchtime courtesy of the Good Food Cafe in Newbridge owned by a girl who attends my own Slimming World class in Athy and has a huge range of Slimming World friendly meals on offer

The day after that horrible weigh in and my plans for the week ahead

After storming out of my slimming world class yesterday in a really fucked off mood, it would have been easy to go for a full on eating binge which is common with food addiction and I was very tempted to do so but I did go out and buy a white chocolate magnum but thats how far it went, did it feel good afterwards? Yes and no it was good to actually eat my fave all time ice cream but I drew the line immediately and I didn't binge at all and I have my beloved Jen to thank for that.

Today I'm gonna try seek pain management from the doctor in order to get this bastard pain in control and do something to control my mood swings because this weekend was the final straw for this, I need to use new ways of stopping me from being cranky and in constant pain but at the same time I'm carrying on with this journey so I can have a better quality of life.

Other than the pain I'm in positive spirits and is looking forward to this week and what it has to offer and I will be hitting the gym regardless of how much pain I'm in as the gym makes me feel good

Thought I end the blog with a before and current pic just to remind me how far I have come and that this ain't no sprint but instead it's a lifestyle change and when I see people get disappointed with 0.5lb or a 1lb loss it pisses me off because to me it's a possible result and it's a step further to your goal and throughout my journey I've had these kind of losses and I've always been happy with the losses