My road to a lean(er) mean(er) Aurik

As some of you may have seen in my other extended post, I recently had quite the health scare -- I was in the hospital overnight with a bout of atrial fibrillation. Basically, my heart was beating at 160-170 bpm at rest, and it just plain wouldn't slow down. When I was at the hospital, I weighed in at 388.6 lbs (highest I've been in a LONG time), which is likely partly due to eating way too much on vacation, and not getting enough real exercise.

Between then and now, I've made it a new goal to lose weight and improve my overall cardiovascular fitness. This log is going to be me keeping myself accountable, and seeing where I started, and how far I've come.

Unfortunately this week I'm on the tail end of a nasty allergy/cold thing that has made it more difficult to work out. I'm not going to use that as an excuse, but it is what is is.

My general workout plans will involve:

- Lap swimming

- Kettlebell circuits

- Push-ups

- Martial arts training days (karate and kobudo)

So on to Day 1: Tuesday 6/18:

Weigh-in: 372.6lbs (down 16lbs from the hospital)

Swimming: 4x100 yards in the morning, 1x100 yds in the evening (had a BSA swim test to do)

Overall impressions: Swimming has been getting easier, but my lats and triceps are still very not used to it. I was on a swim team from the age of 6 until I graduated high school, and I remember swimming 2+ miles per day. My goal is going to hit 1 mile per day a couple days a week. I've got a long way to go.

Something I've done that's helped out is to keep a food journal along with your training journal. Helps with accountability on the diet side of things.

Something I've done that's helped out is to keep a food journal along with your training journal. Helps with accountability on the diet side of things.

I'll keep that in mind. I've been making wholesale changes to my diet -- substantially reducing portion sizes and reducing empty calories, especially at breakfast and lunch. Hence the 16 lbs down already.

Couple of things i have always found that helped :

Diet Wise

I am very much 'all in' or 'all out' i find i can relatively easily say no sugar etc. and stick to it, the issue comes when i try to allow myself the odd bit etc. Some others need the odd bit to keep themselves sane. Try to work out which one you are quickly and follow the relevant approach

Exercise wise

For me i always find that trying to set clear goals/targets helps: eg i want to try to lift x amount by time y etc and then work out a plan to get there. For sticking to it one thing i always found that helped was the penalty of being hit in the pocket! I used to find a friend who also trained (though the training part isn't essential) and we would agree upon some targets/goals to be met in X mths time. If they weren't met you owe the other person £50 or something (has to be enough that you would notice it but not enough to leave you in penury!). That incentive always worked wonders on days when you couldn't be bothered! We always factored in some additional qualifications: eg if demonstrably ill etc it would adjust the target but it was at the sole discretion of the person owed the money to decide if the progress was sufficient!

Am sure you will smash it though! 16lbs already is a good achievement!

Good luck, Aurick! Making the required lifestyle changes is always a challenge at the start. I made some similar changes several years ago. After sticking with it for a couple of months it just became my identity. Now at work I’m “that guy” that shows up with overnight oats in a mason jar and my coworkers know I’m off to the gym after work.

You got this, Ken. You've got a lot of support from your family, dojo, and us. Remember, you got to get your heart rate up, but not alarmingly high, in order to lose weight.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Thursday 6/20

1 hour kobudo class

1.5 hours karate instruction

Weight 372.2 (typoed that. it really should have been 372.2. I got ahead of myself)

Sadly the pool was closed in the morning due to lightning.

Thursday 6/20

1 hour kobudo class

1.5 hours karate instruction

Weight 362.2

Sadly the pool was closed in the morning due to lightning.

Excellent, another 10lbs, well done!

Congrats on making this changes, Ken! I didn't have the scare you did, but several years ago, I decided I was trending in the wrong direction (weight, cholesterol, etc.) and decided it was time to make adjustments. I did a bunch of things, numerous gradual efforts, and it made a difference. So, I hope you find the same!

Will second Brian in the fact that eventually, logging my food became part of this. Yes, to keep the calories where they needed to be, but also to get a real sense of how much I was eating. At one point, I would have never thought I would log my food, but I am currently on a 2,621 day streak, haha. I kept it simple, though. I only log food with calories, don't get into macros (just for my own sanity), and don't log water, sleep, etc.

May or may not be right for you, but regardless, all of this effort is good! Happy for you.

Patrick

Monday 3/24

Swim 1x100, 1x300, mix of front crawl and breaststroke

Weight 375.2

Tuesday 3/25

Swim 1x400, mix of front crawl and breaststroke

Weight 375.4

I'm working on bringing the stamina up. I'm definitely working the upper back pretty hard. The goal by the end of the month is to do 3x200. The goal for the end of the summer is to be able to do 1 mile (1750 yards) nonstop. I think I can get there.