Niall Ferguson - Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria -- Niall Ferguson on "War of the World"

Some Fartlek round the Tan with history of 20th Century violence by Niall Ferguson

Tonight I did a bit of running round the Tan, as usual. Didn't time myself though, just doing what I'd call light fartlek, and listening to Niall Ferguson's The War of the World on Audible. 49 minutes in. Fascinating, a lot of talk on the violence of the 20th Century.

Boot camp meal

Fish and pak choy.

Run fat boy run

The man mass loss challenge never really got off the ground like it was supposed to. Hey ho. I'm back in the running game, and have been posting some incredible times round the Tan, like 22 minutes a lap ! (Well ok, it's good for someone who's 10kg above his fighting weight, and hasn't done any real exercise in months, maybe years).

I'm twittering about my mean feats as I go.

How to Detox after an excessive weekend

We all have those weekends that leave us feeling less than 100 percent on a Monday morning. Too much food, a few too many drinks, and not enough exercise. On Monday you feel bloated in your work clothes, and vow to a life of moderation.

I'm going to restart the food diary again, as I need to detox. I was counting the alcohol units for a few weeks there, I'm sure it really helped me to keep the drinks lower. But I've fallen off the wagon so to speak, and the last 10 days pe so have been having a couple beers or glasses of wine most nights, certainly not binge drinking, but definitely a few too many calories.

Last night I had a bit of a sugar binge, after too much food generally over the weekend.

So today I'm cutting right back. At leest for a few days, detox.

Breakfast was a few Weetabix with milk, washed down with a black coffee. Through the morning I had more coffee, some slice fruit (melon, strawberries), and 2 apples.

Lunch was a sushi box (tasty and healthy), with more water throughout the afternoon. Come 1pm I was getting a bit light headed. When you're detoxing its tempting to skip meals, but it really doesn't do you any good. Better instead to eat better quality food. Such as sushi. A mixed sushi set offers high quality protein, taste, veg and just enough carbs to give energy for the afternoon.

At the end of the day, I had a 30 min gym session, followed by egg, tomato & rice, and importantly, no alcohol.

The first run of the Tan in ages

I did my first run in ages today, it must have been about 2 months since I've seriously exercised. I've over eaten, over drunken, under moved, and now the summer is coming in, it's obvious I need to really shift those pounds to fit back into my clothes.

I ran the Tan. I was thinking as I was running, spluttering, walking today, that a marathon is *only* 11 laps of the Tan, or thereabouts. 42km. 26 miles. The Tan is 3.8km, so therefore 11 laps of the Tan would be a marathon. When you break it down like that, a marathon seems achievable.

The Melbourne Marathon is about 4 weeks away, it would be utterly impossible for me to even think about doing that at the moment. But breaking down in my mind, a marathon, into 11 Tans. It seems almost, sort of, achievable. Kind of.

Exercise on a Weekly basis? ??

Exercise on a Weekly basis? ??

Two thirds of British managers complain that endless meetings and mountains of emails are what drain them the most when they are at work.

Not getting enough sleep (at home rather than

[From Meetings and emails take the happiness out of work]

Japanese beef curry

The Obesity Crisis: Alcoholism's link to Obesity

Craig Ferguson talks about his days of Alcoholic abuse.

[From The Obesity Crisis: Alcoholism's link to Obesity]

The Anti Jet Lag Diet

I was reading the other week about a method of avoiding jet lag when you fly on a long haul flight - by fasting. It has something to do with changing the circadian rhythms or something. Something to do with tricking your body into something.

I'm going to do some research into this anti jet lag diet, and maybe post some ideas on here.

I noticed when I typed "anti jet lag diet" into google, this site came up:

www.antijetlagdiet.com

These guys explain a bit what the diet is, then ask for some cash in order to get a personalised reading on what types of foods you should eat in order to avoid or reduce jet lag. That sounds like a very entrepreneurial service they've created!

I'll do my own research first, and think of maybe getting my personalised reading nearer the time.

A long pause - the food diary over the last week

The first post in over a week. So what's happened? Life happened, plus the build up of my food diary that I knew I hadn't written, and then knowing I would be missing stuff out ... it became too much ... interesting how my diet and exercise has gone downhill since I've stopped recording ... anyway, here's as much of the food diary as I can find and remember. Lot of junk food, wine and beer.

Tuesday 20 May7am Porridge & coffee10am Roll with Turkey & Coleslaw, skinny latte1pm a second roll 5pm 2 slices of burgen bread with turkey & coleslaw7pm 2 rolls, tomato, turkey slices, coleslaw, mayo1 glass of red wine1/2 a yoghurt, with muesli Wednesday 21 May7am - porridge & coffee9am - 2 satsumas ...

lost track after that ...Ran home from work, 4km run Thursday 22 MayRan to work after my porridge & coffee - 4km runVery hungry after the run! So I had a sandwich at 10am, burgen bread with avocado and turkey. At lunch I had soup (I was, as I said, very hungry) with white bread, then 2 donuts and coffeeAfternoon I finished off the sandwiches (4 slices of burgen bread, total)

Pub in the evening - 3 glasses of beerFollowed by burger, onion rings & fries, with glass of red wine.
Friday 23 Mayi didn't record friday's food - I think it was:porridge & coffeesandwiches with .. ??a sausage roll before a few beers at the pubmacaroni cheese & some wine Saturday 24 MayDidn't eat a lot on SaturdayPorridge & coffeesausage roll... can't remember ..Beers & wine @ night Sunday 25 MayAgain, not a lot, but not great food - some greasy food when I woke up - toast with bacon & eggA salad rollA burger in the eveningsome wine Monday 26 Mayporridge & coffeetoasted bacon & egga poppyseed muffin2 skinny lattes

Tuesday, Wednesday .... ??

Thursday 29 May
Tea
Egg and bacon toast
Cafe latte
Lamb on baked potato

Saturday 31 May

Porridge and tea
Egg sandwich
Roast lamb
Brie cheese

Sunday 1 June

Porridge and coffee
2 slices burgen with 2 eggs

Mash potato and gravy chicken meal with a small chicken burger
2 chicken breast nuggets

Monday

And today ... ?  Sandwiches, coffees, chocolate .. blah blah.  Getting the picture?

Tomorrow is a new day.

Weigh in

Reading a book while working out

I was watching a girl reading a book on the cross trainer tonight at the gym.

Just put it down for goodness sake and work out!

Tuesday morning check-in

I've got a bit lazy with writing my food diary. It actually does get a bit boring after a while. Actually, that's the wrong adjective. It gets a bit too much of a commitment to blog every day, maybe several times a day, on exactly what I've eaten. So here goes:

Monday

Yesterday, went to the gym. Did 45 minutes of exercise. That's not bad. Also a shoulder weight exercise. But mainly cardio.

Got home, had salmon and mange tout.

Friend came round for an hour, un-announced at 10.30, so we had some wine (maybe 2 glasses for me), then a midnight snack before bed - a wholemeal roll, with turkey, coleslaw.

Weigh in 82.60kg

Food diary for Sunday (& today so far)

Sunday evening

Not a great food day on Sunday. After the Vietnamese noodles, I had a few beers in the pub, finished off by a slap-up Chinese restaurant feast. Too much beer. Too much greasy food.

Monday

7am Porridge & coffee.

10am Skinny Latte.

1pm Tuna sandwiches (burgen bread) and bean/tuna/kiwi fruit salad.

Nutty flavour mushrooms

Good value, this soup.

Flavoursome.

Yum

Green tea

Double cook duck noodle soup

Vietnamese noodle café

Food diary: Sunday (so far)

I woke up today about 11am (it's a Sunday, so that's ok).

So far I've eaten:

• Porridge



• A coffee



• 2 boiled eggs on toasted burgen bread, with soy sauce and blue cheese.

Divorcing yourself from the drink

I stumbled across this website today, and it really came at a good time for me.

I wrote a short article, which is as yet unpublished, on whether I should reduce my drinking. Am I an alcoholic, is the main question I ask myself. Though increasingly I'm thinking it is an irrelevant question.

Sid Richmond's story, Divorce, talks about his observations of people's relationship with Alcohol, including his own.

I relate to that. I like to drink in the evening. Not (usually) a lot, but just enough to forget. To numb me.

Thanks Sid, good inspiration.

Food diary Saturday 17 May 2008

Late breakfast

Started the day with 2 boiled eggs with 2 slices of toasted burgen bread.

Mid afternoon snack

I had an almond croissant and coffee.

Evening

Pizza & 6 beers throughout the evening. Finally a little yoghurt bar.

Almond croissant and a coffee

Food diary: Friday 16 May 2008

Breakfast

I started the day with the usual porridge and coffee.

Lunch

I had a packed lunch today, 4 slices of burgen bread with margarine, ham and tomato. I toasted them at 1030am and 1230pm, and also had a couple of skinny cafe lattes.

When I got home I had a small bowl of muesli with milk.

Dinner

For tea, I had Broken Rice with Grilled BBQ pork ribs, egg, shredded pork skin, steamed egg cake served with sweet fish sauce.

After Dinner

I drank maybe a bottle of wine, or more, and some beers - out at a friend's place till the small hours.

Didn't do any exercise today.

Food diary for Thursday 15 May 2008

8am

Started the day with some porridge and a home brew coffee. Then grabbed a skinny latte on the way to work. I took the train for the first time in ages, so the whole romantic notion of a take out coffee from a coffee stand just grabbed me.

1pm

Lunch I had leftovers from the other night. Tuna bean salad.

2pm

And some sardines on 2 slices of burgen bread.

2.30pm

Another skinny latte.

6pm-9pm

4 (or 5?) strong European beers

9pm

followed by a big Mac at 9pm. Then a quarter pounder cheese, and small fries. It took till the quarter pounder to feel full. That's drink for you.

And then some Smiths crisps when I got home. See, drink always makes me eat!

More blue cheese

Food diary. Block of blue cheese with my wine

Crisps

Sherbet fountain

Ingoldby Shiraz

Dinner

Crispy chicken rice and egg noodle soup

Food diary

10am skinny cafe latte

1pm. 2 slices burgen with Turkey

3pm. Skinny café latte

4pm. Small tuna and bean salad

Breakfast: porridge and coffee (again)

Beans beans are good for your heart

Beans, beans are good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you fart.

When I was very young, that was a little rhyme we used to say over and over again. Beans are a great source of fibre, and as such they really will help you pass wind. Help you even if you don't really want to be helped.

A recent article on Ananova claims a man lost 6 stone by eating beans. It's one of those things - if you eat just one type of anything, you're likely to lose weight. Its very hard to gorge yourself on just one food type.

Now I just wonder how much weight he would have lost if he had his baked beans with good old Burgen bread?

Dinner. Baked potato

What is your favourite piece of gym equipment?

(courtesy of flickr)

I'm going to try something new today. A reader poll.

Everyone has their favourite piece of gym equipment. For some it's something simple, like a skipping rope or football, for others its a complicated weights machine, like the Fly or Shoulder press. And for others it's a piece of cardio equipment like a rowing machine or Cross trainer.

What's your favourite piece?

Gym tonight

10 mins horizontal bike

Lifefitness 9100 10 mins

10 mins on the rowing machine

Isotrack climbing system

10 mins

Weigh in

Pre gym snack

A can of sardines, on some Finn crispbreads.

Another latte

Food diary. 11am coffee

A skinny latte at 11am

Food diary. Lunch

Lunch today was 4 slices of burgen, with tomato and turkey slices. No dressing.

Food diary. A skinny latte

I have a sore throat this morning, or at least the start of one. I know that having a good coffee can really help me with these kind of ailments.

Nut bar

Kellogg's Special K Bar with yoghurty drizzle

Food diary: Breakfast

Morning again. Coffee and porridge.

Dessert: a Yoghurt

Food Diary: Bean and tuna salad and a boiled egg

After the gym tonight, dinner was a boiled egg, with Maggi Seasoning soy sauce.



... followed by a kidney bean, tuna, salmon and green bean salad. Yum.

Hamstring stretch

Finished by stretching my poor inflexible hamstrings. Ouch.

How to row

The rower

6 minutes. That's 40 mins cardio, and I'm sweating.

Stairmaster

6 mins

Seated cycling machine

8 minutes.

Cross trainer

14 minutes....

Start on the stepper

6 minutes

Weigh in

82.15kg

Pre gym snack

A handful of nuts

Lunch

4 slices burgen bread, tomato and cheese

Some nuts

Breakfast

Porridge and 2 coffees

Another beer

I'm just being honest here, from tomorrow I'll be back on the wagon.

On crackers

Some cheese

Jindi blue cheese

Food diary. Jasmine lychee tea

Food Diary. More yum cha

Food diary. Yum Cha

Such as.

Minced chicken in a lettuce leaf.

Food diary. Finn crisp and cheese

Food diary: some drinking

Bit of a late night tonight. Started off with some beers at home - 5 beers in total.

I had a whole tub of peanuts - 0.140kg of peanuts to be exact.

Its not really helping the cause much - I then had 3 vodka and orange drinks in this club we're in. I suppose its probably the healthiest drink I'm gonna get, but who knows what in that orange juice.

Finally I had a red bull soft drink towards the end of the night. Not too bad a drink binge?

Food diary: chicken, broccolini, mange tout

Chicken, broccolini, mange tout

Food diary: Budweiser

Well it's Saturday night, we'll be heading out tonight, so I'm having some beers at home.

Budweiser is likely to set back my weight loss plans a couple of day. Never mind, I'm still going, generally, in the right direction. Can't be a saint every day?

Burgen is a healthy bread

I've been eating Burgen bread for the past few years, but only recently with my health kick and weight loss plan have I moved to eating Burgen as my *only* source of bread (except for some occasional lunches out, you'll notice).



I've found this page, which describes the health benefits of Burgen.



Burgen does well as it is a "low GI" food, and as such it is a fantastic food for weight loss.



(Another link to a Burgen description)

Food diary: Late lunch

This afternoon, being a Saturday, I had lunch a little late, around 3.30pm. It wasn't the healthiest food in my quest for weight loss - a margarita Pizza slice, with half a cheese ham and tomato focaccia, and a skinny latte.

That's ok, it's only Saturday. My last few days have been full of good diet foods, helping towards my weight loss.

Food diary: Mid afternoon snacks

The nuts are full of fat, so I only had a few (I emptied out more back into the bag after taking this photo). Together with the fruit chunks, this is a good recipe for weight loss.

How to make your iTunes library manageable by culling

As an aside today, I thought it's worth mentioning what I'm doing with my iTunes library. The library goes up and down over the years, and at the moment is sitting at 83.30GB of music (that doesn't include all the audiobooks and podcasts I have that don't show up in the main iTunes window.

Every so often I perform a "cull". That is, I go through the library, very quickly, and delete as much of the music that I can - music I know I don't really like in the end, have tried but have gone off, or just never really liked in the first place. The problem with having so much music at your fingertips, easy to borrow, easy to download, easy to buy, is that you end up with too much, more than you can handle. It's the iTunes equivalent of Information Overload. Not to mention the fact that it is taking up vital hard drive space, space which I don't even include in my Time Machine backup.

So for the next 10 minutes, I'm going on a culling spree .....

Food diary. Start the day with Porridge and twinings tea

If you are a man trying to lose some weight, a very good super food to start the day with is porridge. You can make porridge with milk, with plain water, and add other foods to taste, such as sugar, salt, honey, raisins. Just be careful what you add though. I'm having plain porridge at the moment, as I try to get the weight to fall off.

Food diary: Some nuts

Since coming home after some drinks, I've eaten some nuts and raisins from the fruit mix. Not the best recipe for weight loss.

But I'm starvin marvin!

Also had a couple of "nibbles" when I was out for drinks - brought round by the girl with the plate of food ...

Food diary : Friday drinks

I went out and had a few drinks tonight with some friends, a glass of white wine and maybe 3 or 4 beers.

That was me holding back somewhat. Not bad though, that's the first drink I've had since ... hmmm .. maybe Sunday last week, before I started this food journal.

Food diary: Beef salad

Tonight I had this tasty beef salad. Slices of cooked beef, some sticky rice and vegetables. Yum.

Food diary: Sushi roll

A single salmon sushi roll, with the beef salad.

Food diary: Half an avocado on 2 slices of burgen

There was half an avocado left in the fridge, so I spread it onto 2 slices of Burgen Bread.

Burgen bread - my magical weight loss secret ;-)

A bowl of fruit and nut mix

Lunch

4 slices burgen bread, with jarlsberg and turkey. No butter, Marg or dressings.

If I have to eat bread, I'll make it Burgen, the weight loss bread.

Breakfast

I've run out of coffee, so this morning for breakfast I'm having good old porridge, and a cup of tea. Twinings English Breakfast tea, with a dash of milk.

A healthy dessert - strawberries and hot water

Strawberries and hot water as a dessert.

According to David Zinczenko:

Strawberries contain (a) valuable form of fiber called pectin (..) in a study from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, subjects drank plain orange juice or juice spiked with pectin. The people who got the loaded juice felt fuller after drinking it than those who got the juice without the pectin. The difference lasted for an impressive 4 hours.

Buy on Amazon: "The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life" (David Zinczenko, Ted Spiker)

Dinner

Marinated Chicken steak, broccoli, and green beans

Charting my progress

Take a look at this chart.



(I'm using Google Documents to dynamically generate this chart)

Medicine ball crunches

Ah, my favourite! This one isn't as bad as it sounds, though I generally don't enjoy ab exercises.

3 sets of 10 with a 5kg ball.

I think I'm done in here.

LifeFitness Chest Press

Final machine of the day.

This machine, the LifeFitness Chest Machine, works anterior deltoids, triceps and pectoralis. The whole top row.

First set. 25 kg. 10 reps. Easy.

Second set. 30kg. 10 reps, still not too hard.

Final set. 35kg. 10 reps. First 8 are ok, the last two are torture. Ok, that's probably more like it.