Always Look On the Brightside

After a good day dietwise yesterday I am feeling much better despite a larger breakfast this morning. A chat with a friend has lead me to try and focus on building success by focussing on positives not negatives. This could be much more productive as success breeds further success and is perhaps the final aspect I need to really have a decent crack at this weight loss in time for my goal. Some other important things my friend suggested which I am going to try include:

• Having a Day Checklist so I can "complete" aspects of weight loss i.e. diet and exercise
• I am going to count my calories, as a numbers driven person this might be more productive them estimations
• Continue on the positive mindset

That said I am going to tackle the next couple of days on this new approach and see how these alterations go in keeping me strong and ontrack to 70 kilograms. Always look for the bright side in anything as there is always a brightside to be found. Even in a very bad situation there is a growing experiance perhaps, you will learn to manage something better, react differently or not repeat the same mistake. To Positivity and Beyond! Alpha and Out!

Blowout Season

Another large blowout yesterday. Had been working in the storage facility most of the morning and had forgotton to pack my lunch so I didnt eat anything from breakfast to 1pm. That alone should not have lead me to a blow out however my discipline left me and I was tired and frustrated and so turned on the TV. And suprise, surprise I pigged out. I really need to develop better habits and break unbeneficial ones. Not only did I blow out but I did not get done the extra stuff I wanted to do such as cook a good dinner, clean up or do some goal and success work, as well as make a blog post. With only 79 days to drop 25 kgs I really need to get down to business. I am not going to eat any solids today, something I do not recommend anyone do, but I feel I need to give my body some space to process all the crap out and get used to low food amounts again. I also need to start doing exercise again which is difficult given my eye requires more time to heal before I can put contacts on again. I want to join a gym but am reluctant at this stage as I want to save money and be sure I can afford to spend it before purchasing any services or goods.I think everything should settle in the next couple of days until then I will do morning walks, have a TV block out, do body weight work and get some other things sorted. Onto a better tomorrow. Alpha and Out!

The Week-End Blow-Out

Did not have a great weekend diet and exercise wise. Started Friday night with drinks and Maccas with mates, Saturday was Sizzler and dinner at my Grandmas and Sunday was a family barbque and trash that night. My mood is quite down from that weekend due to the over eating and a particularly nasty eye infection which has left me with a splitting head ache and not motivated to exercise. For some reason, perhaps the discomfort of sweaty glasses, that they fog up or the social image of glasses I simply cannot exercise with them on. This is another pattern I need to break as there have been infections in the past and there will be infections in the future. I think I will try to focus on body weight work e.g. push-ups and ab work inside during my forced exercise break. I think it is mainly the social image of the glasses that annoys me most although they do annoy me when they fog up while exercising. Just little annoyances that have massive side effects. Just another hurdle I must surpass. Had a fun weekend but blow out and eye issue. Gonna post my daily food consumption as a deterrent to more blow outs so you can all call me out if I eat crap again. Alpha and Out

A2A Quote;

"Things may come to those who wait but only things left by those who hustle,"
Abe Linclon

A2A Tip;

Ensure you maintain carbs in your diet, just in moderation and avoiding highly processed/strachy.

Rocking It!

The last couple of days have been really good health wise. Apart from last night, my diet has been perfect. Have got through a comfortable amount of exercise which has been good but would like to do more. When I get the funds I think I will join the gym so I can have a place to exercise after work as I find that idea more appealing then going home kitting up for a bike ride etc. Weights in the arvo after work appeals to me a lot more. Personally I find cycling, running etc is much more of a morning thing particularly cycling due to the lack of traffic in the morning. But all in all really believe I have turned a corner and punched through the last road block towards my weight goal. Sure there will definately be some speed bumps but I have shown myself that I can handle them and that I can live healthily.

Friday arvo means SuperCoach changes. My changes this week are as per my trades. Joseph Tomane in for Tate in the starting line up and Timana Tahu in for J. Nightingale on the bench. Preston Campbell has returned from injury but cannot force his way into the team due to the performance of Todd Carney and so is sitting on the bench.

Have a great weekend all. Alpha and Out!

Need to go CSI on Your Triggers

I write again after a couple of days of good and bad dieting. I would have excellent diet while working/being busy but as soon as I'd get home I would get stuck into what ever was in the house in large proportions. To help stop this I need to think about what are the triggers of this dodgy eating. I have thought it through and here are the main ones;

• Stress
• Tired
• No-one to act like a conscious
• Probaly the biggest; TV

Now that I have actually thought it through the best approach is to limit my exposure to these triggers. It may intially seem hard but they can all be neutralised and eventually turned around positively in very simple ways. Stress can be limited in a number of ways- how you react to situations, meditation, music,walk/exercise to clear the head. Tiredness can be completely neutralised by getting enough sleep, experts say around 8 hours but I believe it is an individual thing some can work on 4 some need no less than 10. To deal with the conscious perhaps you can ask someone to text you how you are going or even ring. The easiest is TV as that can totally be ignored. Read a book, play on the computer just turn off the damn TV. Now to put these action plans into motion. Alpha and Out!

Thats the Way I Like it A-ha

Had an excellent day yesterday where I accomplish all I had planned. It felt great to tick off just about all my goals and to do's off the list. Went on an epic 2 hour ride, which left me sore but the best part was the feel and rhythmn I got into on it. When you get your rhythmn in any sport be it cycling, rugby or basketball no one can stop you and you can just churn out massive workload under not much stress. Had a "fun" session of place-kicking in the arvo. Was hitting the ball as well as I ever have. Was kicking into a light breeze 40 meters out and was falling only a meter or two short. I was pretty stoked considering it is off my 3-1 step run up. I have never been able to slot them like that. It was just one of those days were things fall into place. Today however is going alright but not great. Took the dog for a walk but the scene change has put me off and I didnt get time to do some morning exercise before work which was a bummer. Will just have to fit it in later. Dieting is going well so far though. My biggest concern is the infection I seem to have developed in my eye which wont go away. If infected it has cost me the use of two pairs of contacts about 100 dollars worth. It also means I cant wear contacts for awhile which will through every thing off especially exercise. But oh well will just have to see how it pans out and will have to adapt as happens.

A2A Quote-
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them"
Albert Einstien

A2A Tip-
Include a luxury food in a small serving as a reward for a day's dieting successfully. E.g. 2 small bits of choclate.

Alpha and Out!

Disappointment but Got to Look for the Positives

Today was a very bad day diet and exercise wise. I completely disregarded my plan from the prior night. Did very minimal exercise, eat a lot and had afternoon naps. This has effected my sleep pattern which I reckon I need to alter to ensure that I get enough sleep but can wake up early for pre-breakky exercise. The poor diet attributes to the sleep pattern as after I have a big meal I want to go lie down and digest the copious mass of food. This eventually leads to sleep which then leads to not being able to get to sleep early enough. Having said this, I truly believe that this day is a turning point in my pursuit of my goals. The one major sign that this is a turning point is my attitude, I am trying to look for the positives rather then dwelling on the negatives. This I bellieve is essential. Instead of brooding that I didnt complete all the exercise I am thinking that I still managed a 30 min dog walk and 100 push ups, I ate crap today but my thinking is that I had a good sized brekky and that I managed to gorge on healthier foods. Also I have decided that I will count today as my rest day and exercise more tomorrow, showing imporved flexiblity, this is good.Helping this positive attitude is probaly that things are starting to line up in terms of how I want the year to go. I have an on-call labourer job, work for mum and work for dad along with taking care of a range of pets and getting my exercise on track.
So all in all turning the point! Yea! Alpha and Out.

Time to Give Gus His Marching Orders

Have just finished watching Friday Night Rugby League. The game was a pretty scrappy one, won by the Titans in Golden Point. The one most annoying thing of the game wasn't the excesive penalties, dropped balls or frustrating Titans but the one and only Gus Gould. He filled the telecast with extremely biased and whinging. I am dead sick off it. Constanly bagging the Titans, the refs, all the while praising the Rabbitohs for their somewhat average performance. I mean both teams were playing badly as said by both Andrew Voss and Wally Lewis but Gus was repeatedly heard to say the Rabbits were looking far superior. His biased and whinging performances leave me frustrated and deeply tempted to mute the sound when watching. I was even quite relieved when the second game came on with an enitre NSW team led by Ray "Wrabbs" Warren. I truly think it is time to send off Gus and get him out of our lounge room. However just the fact that I am talking about him is why he is still there, an attention grabber, someone to love or hate passionately.

On a lighter note, today went pretty well. Got up on time with only 2 snooze buttons, walked the dog and did my body weight exercises. Then had a full-on day of job interviews but finally seem to have an on-call position. Decided to give the bike sesh in the arvo a miss as I was buggered, will have a long one tomorrow morning. Had my last big meal at the newly renovated Broncos Club. Excellent refurb and excellent food and service. From now on 2-3 hrs exercise and strict diet till June 17th and 70 kilograms. Alpha and Out!

(photo from theroar.com.au/edited by myslef)

Yau Racka da disiprane

Or "You lack the discipline" pinching a line from South Park to kick of this post on self discipline. I have recently identified my lack of self-discipline as costing me off my goals and energy. I need better self-discipline for the following areas in particular; 1. Food (proper dieting not binging) 2. Making sure I exercise daily 3. Making sure I complete what I plan the night before 4. Waking up at the time I set not snoozing. To find some tips was not difficult, a quick google and I had many sites and book suggestions. Here is some of the wisdom of the online kind.

From ineedmotivation.com they suggest practise makes perfect, goal setting, identifying and riding of bad habits, finishing what you start, ignore negative influences and suggest sport teams and activities as great pathways for discipline improvement. From ryanwhite.com he suggest the book Self Discipline in 10 Days. I intend to source and read this book in the near future, heres one of his tips if you want to do something while doing something else- State out loud what you want to be doing as if your actually doing it. also ask yourself if your confounded by fear "What is the worst that could happen" most of the time you will answer "not much". use a motivation card with 3 motivational things on it e.g. quotes, goals etc. increasebrainpower.com suggests finding energy and motivational boosters such as energy and making a list of what works also says to consider the rewards of self discipline if tempted to be undisciplined.

Hope some of this helps. Alpha and Out!

Photo from: hoopie1-inthelandoftheblind.blogspot.com

Grasping the Ledge, but Slipping

I have had a couple of pretty average days on monday and today. Have been sleeping a lot , eating a lot of crap and not doing much else. This is how I began to decline into depression last time and am worried that my little success at job hunting is getting me down. To prevent this I need to change my disicpline. That has always been a weakness of me. I would schedule a day but not follow the schedule. The past few days I have been concerned about my right knee which was feeling very average at one point and this allowed me to make excuses not too train. I gave it a good work out playing Oztag on Monday but this didnt sink in on Tuesday and I was again lazy and lethargic. This week I need to focus on discipline, and for tomorrows post I will resaerch some technquies and tips to help me improve this. I am also going to plan everything diet and time schedule the night before. And I will also do some more work on defineing my goals etc to help with motivation.

A2A Tip of the Week;

When you have been inactive in a particular sport make sure you start off on easier tracks to avoid injury.

I made the mistake of going on my first run for awhile attempting to climb Mt Cootha, the highest point in Brisbane's west and the surrounding suburbs are also very hilly. This led me to walk a majority of the track as well as pull up with some very bad niggles.

A2A Quote of the Week;

"Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability,"
Roy L. Smith

A2A Diet focus:
Cut the carbs, simple as that

Ok up and onwards, prepare for a Discipline post tomorrow.

Alpha and Out!

Ah, The Joys of the Rest Day

Today was my designated rest day and boy did I need it, after clocking up 10+ hours of exercise I have a couple of niggles that need to R+R. Today was just a light walk with the dog and 100 push-ups. The remainder of the day was sleeping in front of the TV and reading. My left knee however is causing my concern bit as it is very tight and sore. Have been icing it this arvo and will ice it before bed then stretch it tomorrow. It was probaly triggered initaly by poor warm up for my goal kicking and then the climb up Cootha aggravated it. So just gotta take it easier on it this week which is a bit annoying.

Also this weekend I had a break from my relentless job search to see if that helps things. My dad said sometimes that if your looking to hard for a job you wont get one. So I am going to follow that logic but start again tomorrow. I was getting fairly frustrated about writing cover letters etc so I think it was a good move. Will see if it pays off tomorrow. Alpha and Out!

Best of Luck to the Aussie Paralympians

Just watched the opening ceremony of the winter paralympics, a very good show but still left me disappointed. The athletes are all amazing and would all have an incredibly tough story that brought them to the games but they keep going and made it. I am disappointed that the athletes don't get the support and more importantly the funding that they deserve. Many of them have to pay their way to the games along with training. This is a poor reflection on Sporting ministers around the world. I can absolutely understand that able-bodied athletes are much larger in numbers and therefore funds and equipment should be sent their way. However as the Paralympic body is smaller shouldn't sporting bodies be able to fund at least their plane tickets over. Also disappointing was that seperate channels host the Olympics and the Paralympics. Channel Nine did a very good coverage of the Olypmic Games but left it to the government funded agency to somewhat get "the scraps". Channel Nine's action on this suggests that they think that the crap they have on late and early morning TV will acquire higher ratings then watching the mentally toughest athletes compete at their pinnicale. And sadly that is probaly the case. In all the news tonight not one has mentioned anything about the Paralympics starting. There is obvious reasoning behind the lack of support for the athletes but it is certainly an area in World sport that should be improved.

On a lighter note, today was a fairly quiet day today. Went for a two hour run/walk up Mt Cootha which has left me very sore. Need to stretch and ice more if I am to continue my hours of exercise. Going to do my ab and pushup exercises later tonight. Best of luck Paralympians, you are the toughest athletes whether you are recognised or not. Alpha and Out!

(Picture from zimbio.com)

Naming of the Tungs XIII team for NRL Supercoach

On the eve of kick off I have decided to release the composition of my squad to start the comp as part of the Courier Mail's SuperCoach. Here's how the teams line up, Thanks Rabbs;
H- Cam Smith (MEL)
P- Sam Thaiday (BRI) P- Ben Hannant (BUL)
2ndR- Sam Burgess (RAB) 2ndR- Nathan Hindmarsh-vc (PAR)
L- Josh Graham (GCT)
Ha- Jonathan Thurston (COW)
5/8- Preston Campbell
C- Brent Tate (NZW)
C- Israel Folau
W- Lote Tuqiri (TIG) W- Greg Inglis (MEL)
F/B- Billy Slater (MEL)
Reserves- J.Lilyman (NZW), M.Paea (BUL), A.McCullough (BRI), L.Setu (BRI),
S.Tagataese (GCT), M.Masoe (SYD), C.Sandow (RAB), B. Finch (MEL)
A.Quinn (MEL), J.Nightingale (STG), S.Walker (GCT), W.Zillman (GCT)

A pretty good team I back to do the job. I will outline any weekly changes I make on the blog if required.

Had another really good day today. Had quick meeting with Dad, then job searched till lucnh time. After lunch went on 1.25 hour bike ride and then 1.5 hours of goal kicking. Goal kicking was alright considering gale force winds, some were heading over the center and were pushed across the face. I reckon it is good to include some non-serious exercise to keep things interesting. By non-serious I mean something that is done purely for fun but also is exercise, it could be bowling, tennis but for me its goal-kicking. I have always found it fun and relaxing and since most of my friends live away from me it is an activity I can do by myself. Diet was ok today, had a very big dinner but other then that was fairly good. Discovered that I feel better, more like the Alpha after a lot of exercise on a nearly empty stomach, which shows to me that I feel better almost empty compared to over-full. Anyway hope all is good for the weekend. Go the Broncos and Reds. Alpha and Out!

Feeling the Alpha run through my veins

At last yesterday I managed to get up at 4am to start the day. The secret was using Coldplay's "God put a Smile on Your Face" A rather soft, mellow Coldplay song which seemed to gently coax me out of slumber rather then a rasping alarm wretching me out. Will continue to use this method to confirm its effectiveness. Thanks to my mates advice to exercise to break up the bored of joblessness I have been exercising 2-3 hours per day. It was yesterday morning that I really felt the Alpha flowing. I had got up read my goals taken the dog for its walk and then jumped on the bike. Had a really good 1.5 hr session, could really feel the difference after changing the lube made it much easier. Got back a little late and had to run off to meet mum for brekky. On the car ride, I was in Alpha mode, could feel energy coursing through me and my mind was full of positive thoughts. I wanted this to last but a greasy brekky killed it, showing that a healthy way is the right way to Alphadom. Will continue to wake up early as I just love that feeling of accomplishment and endorphins.Gotta keep it going this time though. Alpha out!

Cycling out of Frustation

After an average day yesterday I am writing about how to pick yourself up again. I did just that today with about 3hours of exercise. It felt really good to be working out properly. I found that encouragement from a friend was exactly what I needed. It shows that the best stratergy is perhaps just to talk to someone and reach for some of your inner strength. Positive thinking was also esstenial. Positive thoughts lead to positive actions which should lead to positive outcomes. I know this is stressed by every so called success person but it really does help a lot. If that doesnt help just think about some inspirational atheletes and people. What would've happened if Martin Luther King Jr decided to throw in the towel and withdraw his cause. Where would black rights be? Micheal Jordan didnt quit after not being selected for his high school basketball team, he went home, worked his butt off and went back the greatest of al time. There are numerous accounts of how successful people faced challenges but pushed on and I encourage you to follow their lead as life over the hill really is better. Alpha out!

When does a business become a cult?

After watching a Four Corners program on Scientology, I write this filled with dread. Why does Western Society constantly produce people who deem themselves as Gods and worst of all people follow them? Perhaps the human condition requires people to inactively seek out struggle and hardship. People are struggling to eat in many countries while people in western society, myself included sit at home in a comfy chair on a computer surfing the internet. And yet some must not be able to have a calm life and seek out a way to cause them hardship, mostly at financial cost to themselves. In relation to Scientology it is nothing more then a glorified cult. They run their cult like a business, hire the right people, pay their employees the minimum to maximise profit. I can fully understand why people join, they might be depressed or just dont seem to fit in and they seek people who accept them whether geniuely or falsifily. This is how skinheads and other major cults recruit, they prey on the weak. No religion should prey on the week they should lift up the weak and the poor as most other religions do. And worst of all no religion should require payment to "progress" spiritualy. All other prophets from Jesus to Buddha to Mohammed all give up their own possesions. To me Scientology is a cult formed for a struggling writer to sell his sci-fi books.

On a lighter note I began for real today. Still having trouble waking up at 4, did not exercise today but had decent portion control so overall a decent day. Still struggling to find work which is really riding on my nerves. I think tomorrows post will cover how to pick yourself up. Look forward to read it!

And so in line with cults this weeks quote will be a Simpsons favourite:

"Oh look Marge another bean that looks like the Leader," Homer Simpson

Weekly Tip:

Write all your various fitness goals on 3x5 inch cards and review 2-3 times a day, visualizing the goal completed.

The Last Meal!

Am writing this post on a very full stomach after celebrating my Grandmas birthday at the Broncos club buffet. From tomorrow it all begins for real. Diet, exercise stretching etc. Had a decent ride today (26.07km@21.79km/hr), still absolutely dying on hills but that will improve. Have also made a goal that I will be employed by 5pm this Friday and I am quite confident that I will prevail. I have followed the tips from the Success book as mentioned previously and am feeling confident about all my goals at the moment. Looking forward to fighting back all I lost during depression. Oh well I feel like a late night working more on my goals and my Big Book of Success. Pump it up!

Working on Me

After another couple of days of nothingness, I began to read Jack Canfield's (author and creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books) book on success called How to Get from Where You are to Where You Want to Be. It was an excellent read and I am now going through it again and doing the exercises he suggest which so far I have found exceptionally helpful. I am currently outlining my goals at the moment, Jack's book is the first piece of literature or advice that really helped outlin my goals which I have been wanting to do for many years. He said when creating goals, for them to truly inspire they must fulfill the following two criteria 1) How much 2) When by and must be very specific. This is an ideal book to propel me out of this slumber and into the pursuit of success I truly believe I can achieve. Jack I salute you for an excellent piece of literature! (Picture from youasketh.com)

Quiet Time in the Brisvegas

Has been a couple of quiet days in Brisbane. Have largely been confined to the indoors due to the "Landphoon" (i.e. typhoon over land) which is sending rain to most of QLD and NSW. Made it out on a bike ride on Sunday (19.94km@23.59km/h) but again excuses cost me a longer ride. Plan to go for a long ride tomorrow before breakfast depending on the weather, if too wet I think I will run to UQ instead. Need to stop negative thoughts and excuses creeping in.

Watching Biggest Loser Australia as I write this blog, watching Caitlin being saved unfortunately. Although I am sure she is a good person (she is a youth worker I think) but the way she plays the game and her sniping comments make it hard to support her. A good example of this is that she said at the start of the program she wouldn't blame them for voting her off but then as soon as people revealed her name she was immediately out with a snipping comment under her breath too. Congrats to Phobebe for having the strength of character to explain and defend her choice. However as I wrote this sentence, Caitlin (pictured, photo from dailytelegraph.com.au) did explain that the weight had made her that snipping sort of person which I can understand. Anyway hope you go for the best Caitlin and become a better person. I find the Biggest Loser an excellent progam to inspire people despite the somewhat unsafe weightloss driven by it being a TV show, I still would encourage overwieght people to watch for inspiration.

Anyway push on towards becoming the "Alpha" Till next time catchya