A picture paints a thousand words,

gabgab

This is me 3 months ago. I am currently trying to clean up my diet and stop being such a lazy ****e........

At the moment the diet changes are removing fizzy drinks, and eating significantly less processed crap, it is making a bit of a difference,

I am training about 2 times a week for weights and bodyweight stuff and shall be starting to do some triathlon stuff as I plan on doing some for the summer!!!

gabgab

This is me as of last monday,

I have been taking one per week to try and keep myself motivated if I can see even the slightest change and I am happy with the results,

I am going to focus on my diet and doing more in terms of getting faster and stronger, I will start posting up my diet and what actual training I am doing as of monday,

I have no stats as I have no weighing scales but I am not too bothered with the numbers that way in terms of how much I loose or gain as long as I am seeing physique changes

Fatloss08

big difference well done

mikemac

Wow, major progress, well done!:)

Now keep us updated on how you get on.
These fitness logs are a major source of inspiration to many, well me anyway

Malteaser!

Congrats on your progress so far, there's huge difference between the two pics!! Keep it up!!

gabgab

Thanks a million everyone, the comments are inspirational too.

I am looking at focusing on the diet, I am not taking any supplements and am gonna try get my nutrients etc from whole foods,

Will start posting up what I am actually doing once I have a bit more time and get my diet together, its ok, but as the trainer said it is "far from optimal" so a big shop this week to get in healthy stuff and start posting up what I am doing and a pic per week to show the changes hopefully,

gabgab

Today,

I did the crossfit workout of the day and ate the following,

Bowl of porridge,
Some brazil nuts,
Tuna sandwich,
5 Jaffa cakes,
2 chicken fillets,
2 rashers,
Some brown rice,
Some Orange squash,

I am planning on doing some turbo training in the morning before work, however I have been talking about fasted 6 am low heart rate cardio for a few months now, but with a triathlon loooming I need to start it cos I have so little time each week. Hopefully tomorrow night I will post up a success story for first am cardio work

gabgab

Well the am cardio did not work out too well,

However tonight I did a 25 km cycle in the lashings of rain as I have 80 days to get triathlon fit along with the weights and diet changes,

littlefriend

Wow the difference in those pictures is incredible. Very inspiring

gabgab

Hey thanks littlefriend, your comment is encouraging for me too,

Just need to stay with it and work on the diet a bit more,mpreparation is the key but being brutally unorganised is a big problem for me

littlefriend

haha that made me laugh - I just got stuck behind a crash on the N11 for 2 hours. Was STARVING - all I had was a HUGE bag of sugarsnap peas in the car so I ate them all. Ludicrous behaviour - I never want to see another one again.

Its obvious from your pics that you are motivated and dedicated to your fitness. Because you are working so hard at that, its totally worth 1 - 1.5 hours of your time per week to plan your meals for a few days. A few years ago I was in ww and I made a list of around 8 or ten breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas. I found if I could manage to plan for Mon - Thurs I was grand.
Maybe put up a thread on the diet and nutrition forum for ideas?? My mind is a bit blank atm. Last night I had some wholewheat pasta, prawns, rocket and parmesan. It was delicious and took maybe 10-12 minutes to cook.

gabgab

Yeh you are right it does make a big difference, I am looking to see if my boss will allow a 9 instead of an 8 am start, that way I can cycle into work, have a shower in the gym down the road and then I have my cardio looked after but I reckon leave it a while for the weather to get beter......

I am terrible with food, chicken, brown rice, some veg if I am lucky, and the fabulous Jaffa Cakes, oh the wonder of Jaffa Cakes,

Like I say my diet is not that great but cutting out fizzy drinks, crisps, and the like has made a big difference,

How are you getting on yourself?

littlefriend

Yeah doing ok. Have gone back to college and have an exam on saturday so I'm concentrating on that this week. Talk about unprepared - christ I'll never learn.
I'm looking forward to next week when I can really concentrate on the whole exercise side of things. Not sure whether to join a gym or not.. I think it'd be good for weights etc but in terms of cardio as I live by the sea I think I might be better off out in the air rather than a sweaty gym. I've actually signed up for 10 wks w/ a trainer I contacted through boards. He put me through my paces last week - jesus I was stiff as hell the next day. He's away until friday week though so I'm on my own until then.
Maybe you should see a nutritionist for a one off consultation. Shouldn't be too pricey - less than 100 euro for sure - might make all the difference to you.
I'm meant to be doing the 40% carbs, 30% protein & 30% fat thing but am at a bit of a loss as to how to plan out meals. Will have to iron that out w/ trainer next week.

gabgab

Yeh being outdoors is the way to go I think, I had a turbo trainer but I find it mind numbing being inside and on it,

What are your goals? I need to edit my first post, I reckon a nutritionist could be a great idea, but will have a browse around the interweb first,

Today was good,

Porridge for breakfast,
Banana, Apple and a few brazil nuts,
Tuna, potato salad, swiss cheese and an orange and a bag of popcorn,
Some Jaffa cakes
3 egg omelette with chicken and bacon
Tin of tuna

Crossfit work of the day,

This is the picture from today as I had no camera on monday as I had left it behind,

gabgab

40 0r so minute run, but found keeping my heart rate in my desired base fitness building zone very difficult, there were some gradients, and I did some military chins and pressups beforehand, but even at that it should of not remained elevated for too long

Disheartened but vowing to keep it in the 70/75% of maximum until the end of april for all cardio stuff, bike, run, and the dreaded swimming

Am away for Paddys weekend but will go running at least once, hopefully twice, in the same zone, and a crossfit workout on monday night before back to brutal work on tuesday

gabgab

Well,

The weekend was complete mayhem, hilarious craic and my diet consisted of Guinness, bottles of beer, some seafood, and not a lot else,

I did manage a 55 minute run, with some sprints, as I was near a beach and measured out 30 yards, and did 6 sprint sets on it, sprinting and then walking back, found it very hard to keep my heart rate zone in the desired zone,

Went for a run the second day, legs were very sore from previous days work, got 20 minutes out and then realised it was a bad bad idea to be doing it this hungover with a belly full of 2 nights messing, headed back, did nothing last night but am feeling motivated and keen to do something tonight, maybe a spin out on the bike, however I am finding it very very hard to keep my heart rate down on the bike, will have a picture up tonight to keep in line with the paln, just messy the way the weekend has worked out,

gabgab

So I did go for a spin on the bike,

I went from my house to town and back, trying to get a handle on how long it will take if I can organise myself for cycling in and out of work. 70 minutes or so and lashing rain, finding it hard to keep heart rate at the level I need.

I also went out today and did the same spin, 65 or so minutes but trying to keep it at a nice steady level. I reckon I will have to knock the crossfit on the head at the end of march as finding the time to do everything and have a social life is proving difficult,

I have a chin up bar and will be doing some upper body stuff before triathlon stuff just to maintain upper body strength

TerrorFirmer

Excellent progress. Keep it up.

ICX

Big difference man. Keep motivated.

gabgab

Ok so I have been sticking with the cardio and did what looks like my last crossfit workout of the day as I need to start the triathlon stuff as I am doing one in may,

It sort of worries me as I am quiete trim as it is but I dont want to be a scrawny beanpole either and I know the triathlon stuff will make this difficult to not end up like,

I am gonna look at getting 2 quick but intense pullup and pressup efforts in per week as my lower will be getting a pounding from the bike and running, but I am a bit worried about how much I will drop in 4 months, I think I will post up asking has anyone any advice, maybe a gainer shake or something to increase calories,

Anyway here is the latest pic,

gabgab

Went out this morning near my house on a nice loop that has 2 very steep hills then loops back onto itself, like a circuit, did 3 then got a puncture and headed back in, it was blowing a gale so not great craic,

Will be putting the new tube on and then cycling into town to meet a friend and collect a sat nav, wahooooo!!!

siochain

great work gabgab, keep it going.

gabgab

28 or so minutes of sprint intervals near my place, with a loop of very uphill and downhill bits, felt good and could of done alot more I feel but had a friend coming over and was a bit delayed getting started,

Curious to see how I will feel tomorrow and if I will have some leg pain or the like,

gabgab

Feel good, legs not too sore at all, stretched a bit after with some pressups in between, never used to stretch and I am wowfully inflexible, cant even get near my toes bending over.

Will be interested to see how my 5k goes tonight, I want to see just how quick I can do it but finding a flat bit does not seem that easy, will do one that has quiete a bit of uphill, and see how it goes,

Not taking as many pictures as my lifting has dropped off, purely down to not going to crossfit cos meant to be focused on triathlon stuff..... I had not been doing a whole lot I must admit, but back into it now,

gabgab

Went back to the gym yesterday, I had forgotten how annoying these places can be but I needed a pool with flexible swim options etc,

It looks like it is gonna be 22 minutes to swim 750 metres in the pool going on last night, got in and stayed very slowly at and crawled out 15 lengths,

(technique was horrible, felt my toes touch the bottom of the pool at one point, looked like a sinking boat I reckon, but I will work on technique more than distance cos I know that I can grind out the distances)

Did some weights but not very structured, will be making this out properly tomorrow so I can stick to it, going to look like this I reckon,

Pullups x 10
Deadlifts x 10 (need to find a weight for this so will do it on sunday)
Chinups x 10
Deadlifts x 10
Pressups, as many as I can manage in one minute
Situps x 15
Pressups again the same,

Then a bit of a stretch and into the pool for swimming,

daveywavey08

You're doing well, my son, keep it up

gabgab

Thanks man appreciate it,

gabgab

7k run last night, tested my 5k time at a steady pace.......

Half way through realised it was looking like 6 or 7 minutes a kilometre, started cacking it and picked up a little,

Disheartened at that, but have done very little running, want to be able to do it in 20 minutes, fresh, eg: not after a bike or anything so this is my new goal,

Will do some treadmill work, after the spinning class, but just to get that brick session idea into my brain, will be testing the times outdoors, have to admit I am worried about my incredible lack of pace here..........:mad: :mad:

Really did think I ws gonna be quicker than that, but hey I started slow and steady,

gabgab

Some weights, quick and intense with a focus on speed and mostly bodyweight stuff,

Deadlifts, not sure of weight think 25kg, was very light as am still a little unsure of whether my technique is correct,
Ten pullups,
Deadlift,
Ten chinups,
Deadlift,
Ten pullups,
Deadlift,
Ten chinups

Pressups, 10 and ten with one hand higher than the other,

15 situps,

Bench Press, 10 x 50kg, 10 x 52.5kg
Dips, 20 in total, in what was supposed to be 10 x 2 but turned out alot different :mad::mad:

Then a few more situps, and into the pool, 20 minutes at a very slow pace, but am having a big problem kicking legs while making a stroke, not cool, will need to get some lessons asap, before bad habits kick in,

All in all happy with how I look, but am unhappy with my speed but not too worried as these triathlons are really to keep me focused and help me develop a base cardio fitness

ike

Impressive stuff there gabgab, those photos really show massive improvement. Don't worry too much about the speed now, with your training a physique, it should come about very quickly, like you said you've done very little running, but I'd say once you start, a few weeks will show a noticable improvement.

gabgab

Thanks for that man,

Have been bad at putting up the pictures but I find that they are good as they help to keep me motivated as I can actually see the changes myself, reckon the speed will come too hopefully,

Once the triathlon is over its Oktoberfesrt and then onto trying to gain some mass, but staying lean

gabgab

spinning class, then a slow and steady 10 mintes on a treadmill, then into the jacuzzi. Spinning is brutal, but reckon its good to do as it will inject some pace into my cycle section hopefully......

gabgab

Went to the gym after work to try get some weights and bodyweight stuff in, hate the place, so many people cant get near stuff,

Am gonna look at doing 2 morning sessions at 6 before work to try get what I want done nice and quick,

Looking like

Monday Weights 40mins and 20mins distance swim
Tuesday: Spinning 40mins at class pace/Running 20 mins@5mins a km, if I can
Wednesday:Weights 40mins and 20 mins distance swim
Thursday:Spinning 40mins at class pace/Running 20 mins@5 mins a km, if I can
Friday:Rest day
Saturday:10km at pace to be confirmed dependant on how other runs go,

This starts next week, this week is a bit messy but still doing it just not as structured,

gabgab

So I went for a run last night lateish,

I need to measure it properly but I think its gonna be pretty dismal when I do see the results, at best it is 4k in 20 minutes and I could of not run any faster.......

Now there is a big hill at the end but regardless of that, not happy about this but need to figure out what to do as I find the theory behind triathlon training very confusing, and by confusing I mean hard to stick to,

It seems that by staying between 70% and 75% of my maximum heartrate I will make the most speed gains, but I find it very hard to stay there,

aoa321

gabgab,

I just stumbled on this thread, what's the story here? The difference between those photographs is amazing. I mean it as the highest compliment when I say that to see an "ordinary" person make such progress is totally inspiring.

How are you doing it? Is is mainly diet? I presume that you are working with weights becase your deltoids and upper arms show marked improvement. How many times do you get out to do a cardio session in the week and are you eating much? Do you mind me asking what age you are?

Keep up the good work. I once took photographs, trained for 8 weeks, and then then took some "after" shots - laugh my ass off but there was NO differnce - except for the fact that I had a different pair of boxer shorts on the photgraphs looked like they had all been taken in the same session.

That was last year, I haven't picked up the weights since - but this thread has started me thinking again !!

gabgab

Hey,

Thanks a million for that really appreciate it, I am 26,

I changed the following things:

Eat no crisps, or bars with my lunch,
Eat no takeaways
Drink no fizzy drinks
Plenty of Fruit, Vegetables, and water, with plenty of clean foods, like brown rice, chicken fillets etc
I dont eat anything that comes out of a box or jar anymore really, eg: Pizza's etc apart from one day a week where I eat anything I want,

The training end of it I have to thanks www.crossfit.ie, for the workouts, I trained twice a week on monday and wednesdays, and did some stuff at home,

I didnt do a huge amount I have to admit, but am now training for triathlon,

PM me if you want anything but I have to say this, my physique changed cos I stopped eating so much ****, I dont have even near an ideal diet now, but its better and I am chuffed with the results,

gabgab

Saturday morning was a ok weights session but still no real structure so I really need to get my head out of my ass for that,

Tonight was a nice steady run for 45 mins, will measure the distance tomorrow, but was just a ipod in and take it handy sorta effort, felt good after it but slow no doubt,

Tomorrow will be a quick interval bike session followed by a 5k run after work,

Then tuesday will be weights and swim, need to get the swim stuff sorted re technique as at the moment its a doable distance but once I picked up the tempo even a little it was attrocious,

gabgab

So I went to the gym last night, again hating the packedness of the place, I did the following,

10 chinups, 10 pullups, 10 press ups as a warm up,

Then a series of chins, pulls, dips, shoulder presses and pressups,

I found doing the pressups with one hand on a block made the distinctly harder,

I then went on a cycle, 40 mins or so, with the quick bit down by lambdoyles towards rathfarnham...... wahoooooo!!! Its great craic I must admit,

Will maybe go for a run or a swim tonight, or possibly run down, swim, runback, at a nice relaxed pace for the run,

4km in 20 minutes is what I am at, with a steep incline at the end but I reckon that is irrelevant as it will be like the last push at the end of the tri,

gabgab

Did a spinning class, felt like dying, my quads were destroyed during it so tonight I am heading out for dinner and chilling out, then getting ready to go at it again on thursday, gotta be swim and weights me thinks, have neglected the weights a little and need a minimum of 2 per week to maintain I hope........

gabgab

Friday was weights and good session of chins, pressups and shoulder presses,

Saturday had a 25km cycle and sunday was a big and quick run, I reckon maybe 9 or 10kms and lots and lots of uphills and varied terrain,

thirdmantackle

are you playing any sports? like team games - just for the craic and to display the improved fitness?

doing all that training on your own is not healthy

celestial

thirdmantackle wrote: »

are you playing any sports? like team games - just for the craic and to display the improved fitness?

doing all that training on your own is not healthy

How's that then??

gabgab

Yeh I dont understand that approach at all,

Take a long distance runner?? I can sort of see hwere your coming from though, the run on sunday was with a few mates and the sports I do are triathlon, very very slowly.......... :mad::mad::rolleyes:

It does say that in the log though,

Thanks,

gabgab

I will be taking a picture tonight,

I have been very very lazy about that lately!!!

I reckon the new tri fitness stuff will help me loose bodyfat but also will cause me some scrawniness, and yes that is a technical term...... I have a link to an article defining it somewhere :D

Based on the heart rate monitor my greyhound like friend was wearing we burnt nearly 1000 calories during the run, I will take that with a pinch of salt but even half that is a bit considering its a few times a week,

gabgab

Ok so tonight will be first tie I try the whole run and spinning in the one night, gentle jog down, then spinning for 40 minutes, 5km ish, then home to eat and shower then onto the couch, then if I am feeling very very adventureous a 20 minute pressup, pullup, press work out,

1 minute each exercise with no break, then a 1 minute break x5

Woddle

Hey man that's a great read, thanks for your comments on mine,
Just wondering,you seem to be a little concerned about your running speed over 5k, do you do any specific types of running drills to improve this or do you just go out and run.
Congrats on the work to date,I could not imagine myself training so hard for the 3 diciplines.
And also love the idea of eating what you want on one day.
keep up the great work

gabgab

Hey,

Thanks for that man, I need the cheat day to keep myself sane, but it si funny how you dont really want the stuff that much anymore, kind of like your tastes change you know,

I am starting a new drill, its gonna be on a treadmill, 1km at 4:45 min perkm for one minute then 3 minute rest, x3

I know treadmills are not ideal for it but it will help me keep at a pace, I have a terrible tendency to just quit and throw in the towel once the pace picks up a little,

My goal is to do another in July in 1hr 10 minutes for sprint, then maybe one in August but I reckon at that stage I will be back crossfitting, the physique changes I saw and the strength gains were brilliant, and all this running etc has the weight falling off me and at 6'2 and 12 stone I cant afford to loose much more without looking gaunt.....

littlefriend

Hey gabgab

congratulations - you are doing so well I'm really jealous! don't forget to post your pics up - very inspiring

gabgab

Thanks so much littlefriend,

I am a bit conscious of putting them up now as I am not lifting nearly as much as I was previously, and while I think I am geting fitter that does not translate into dramatic looking pictures,

Will do one though, then its triathlon stuff, eat like a lunatic and then once they are done and Electric picnic is over its back to the gym and some cardio to maintain,

That will definitely have a picture diary at least 3 a month, cos with the lifting it should change pretty quick,

littlefriend

Of course don't mind me - totally get what you are saying.
Was thinking of checking out crossfit - are there any other unfit females there?

gabgab

PM me if you want about crossfit,

I cant recommend it enough really, its brilliant and whilst your training in a group, it is also available private, I feel less self conscious there than in a commercial gym, because nobody and I mean nobody is looking at anyone else,

Your too busy trying to get the stuff done, or if its not against the clock, you know what the other person is trying to do relative to them and are encouraging them,

How is training going for you?