Turning Japaneseer...

No snow but very chilly temperatures have stuck with us in Japan. A trip down the shinkansen, the bullet train has moved us onto Nagoya.

Weight loss Japan tourist-style is progressing nicely. The food in general over hear is very small in portion size. Although it is largely a carb based diet the small portion sizes negate most of the carb related weight gain. Despite the small serving you generally finish full but not bloated or heavy.

The tourist lifestyle of walking around taking in the sights is also great for torching those carbs. I estimate that since we got here we have been walking on average at least 5hrs a day with only short food stops providing relief. Accompying this once I get settled into Nagoya I will start running and body weight exercise. Knocking off 5kgs will be a cinch. Alpha and Out!

Meanwhile in Japan

Ah yes, internet access has returned and I find myself in a hotel in Japan. After a rough 24 hours to get to Tokyo which included a midnight 1 hour drive to Cabolture the night before a 7am morning flight and then a volcano in Japan causing light delay (thought it was going to be much worse!). Arrived in Tokyo in heavy snow, checked-in then went for a stroll around Ikebukuro in the snow. A big day yesterday in central Tokyo.

Ok other than a travel report I am using this 2 weeks in Japan as a "slate wiper". I will use it to reposition all the crap from the past 2 years into the past and begin the transformation into the Alpha. I also will start my weight loss again with help from cold weather, tourist daily walks and the generally small healthy servings of Japanese food. I reckon a loss of 5 kg's is a decent goal for the two week period. That will be a solid foundation for when I return so I can hit the ground running. Alpha and Out!

From the Archives:

Friday 4th February

Avoid the Crash, Avoid the Crash...

Avoid the Cr........ash! That was my mantra Monday night. After my usually full on and successful Monday in terms of exercise and diet I was feeling good and was happy to take out my contact lenses knowing my work was done for the day. However after a slight sleep in I still managed to get a dog walk in on Tuesday morning. However soon after a number of factors smashed me one after the other. Stress sent my cortisol through the roof. Combine this with not eating my planned snacks and lunch etc and the whole day imploded. A late night of TV escapism caused a complete meltdown on Wednesday. Thursday I made it until lunch time before again being rendered useless. Today however I have picked myself up and really pushed me through some work-related tasks.

Stress. It has severely affected my weight loss goal and sent my weight from a 90kg low in mid 2010 to a 100kg for most of December until now. While I have a lot to stress about, it all can be managed better. At this stage I have conditioned responses to stress (thank you psychology subjects) which involve snacking on bad food and escapism to television. However I need to approach why I am getting stressed and minimalising those messages. Looking back it is all the negative self talk in my head more than anything, corrupting my thoughts and poisoning my mind. It is time to employ a strategy to manage this as it is holding back all of my goals in the pursuit of the Alpha lifestyle. Let’s try the following for a week;

Strategy - “The Antidote”

Whenever I realise through introspection that my thoughts have gone negative I will snap a rubber band on my wrist and repeat the following -

“That is not true! You are the Alpha! Ain’t Nothing Gonna Bring You Down!”

Lets see how this treats me for a week. I can do it, Alpha and Out!

Communication Breakdown!

Unfortunately my circumstances have cut my access to the internet for the foreseeable future explaining the lack of new blogs. I have been trying to at least type them up on a daily basis but I only have a few so far (posted below). Things are quite hectic at the moment and my head is all over the place. In the next week or so I will endeavour to begin regular posting once more, Alpha and Out!

Monday 10th Jan

Title: Revamped

After the christmas- new years hangover period I have finally organised myself for another tilt on my weight-loss journey. I have revamped my training diary based on how I used my previous one. This meant having a section in the diet to write down any changes to my diet plan if I don’t have the correct food stuffs and a time based exercise bar in comparison to a planned exercise schedule. This will allow me to focus more on time spent exercising which is what I need at the moment in opposition to the type of exercising. I have also narrowed it down to a 4 week period. This will allow me to focus more on the blocks of time towards my goal in March rather then trying to keep focus on the whole 9-10 weeks.

This 4 week block will focus purely on fat loss and weight reduction. This means lots and lots of cardio while downsizing the time spent on weights.

Briefly I want to elaborate on my confidence, another crucial armament as Alpha. Last night I was out with my mates and we started to try and work on approaching people to start conversations. We managed to strike up one mainly due to the help from my mate. I felt no fear, nothing bad at all however for the rest of the night I just couldn’t approach anyone at all. This is all to do with confidence. While my confidence is returning it is still a small slice of what it was two years ago. Your confidence will always fluctuate on a day to day basis but at the end of the day it is a choice whether you pull it up or put it down. It’s all on You! I have got to work on pumping it up and removing the negativity that has sunk in over the past two years. Here we go again, Alpha and Out!

Sunday 23rd Jan

Better Tighten My Belt Before the Start

A week of reflection and reading has refocused me and has set me up for another tilt at the Alpha journey. Looking back, I was most fit when I had a performance goal to achieve as a triathlete. I have struggled throughout this year training for health and admittedly vanity however when I was training for triathlons I was jumping out of bed, gunning through the sessions and really enjoying life. In fact the main factor things began to unfold was that I was not making my training sessions. Now a large reason I had so much success was the tri-club around me, like minded people cheering me on, however at this stage aside from the financial limitation, my current fitness would see me at the bottom of the pack and could potentially do more damage so for now it is up to me and my trusty training manual purchased two years ago. In all aspects of my life I find things go smoothly when I have thoroughly planned them out.

Now to the belt tightening. As January draws to a close, the brief reprieve from my lack of funds due to credit cards and birthday money is also dimming over the horizon. This will limit my ability to follow a strict diet. However it also gives me the opportunity to practice the simplicity of dieting, portion control and luckily this aspect is where I am most lacking. I will for the next couple of months have to live off my grandparents and to ensure that I continue to lose weight this means portion control, portion control, wait-for-it......yes, portion control. My dietary focuses for the next 2 weeks before I go to Japan will be small, regular portions and attempting to stay away from sugar as much as possible. Lets do it. Alpha and Out!

Meanwhile in Sydney...

After living through the dark of power blackouts, searing temperatures and flooding (all of which I have inscribed in blog form on pen and paper which I will upload in the near future) I jumped on a plane and flew down to Sydney. I had to fly down to drop some suits and clothes off for Dad who had been stranded down here and also due to the inundation of the Milton office, to get some work done. I arrived to sun, blue water and white beaches.What, surely this can't be in Australia, where is the brown murky water, the torrential rain, the mud encrusted streets the flood ravaged CBD. I guess I've been stuck in a Brisbane mindset.

In many ways the flood and subsequent power and other issues have not been that bad for me. After cleaning up the damage I would return to a dark house with no power. This forced me to read. I got stuck into my Triathlete's Training Bible which has inspired me to plan out many aspects of my life starting with plotting my return to triathlons. Looking back now while doing triathlons was one of my most fun, happy, confident and successful times. I am looking to recapture this in 2011. Coming back better, stronger, faster. Alpha and Out!

Revamped

After the christmas- new years hangover period I have finally organised myself for another tilt on my weight-loss journey. I have revamped my training diary based on how I used my previous one. This meant having a section in the diet to write down any changes to my diet plan if I don’t have the correct food stuffs and a time based exercise bar in comparison to a planned exercise schedule. This will allow me to focus more on time spent exercising which is what I need at the moment in opposition to the type of exercising. I have also narrowed it down to a 4 week period. This will allow me to focus more on the blocks of time towards my goal in March rather then trying to keep focus on the whole 9-10 weeks.

This 4 week block will focus purely on fat loss and weight reduction. This means lots and lots of cardio while downsizing the time spent on weights.

Briefly I want to elaborate on my confidence, another crucial armament as Alpha. Last night I was out with my mates and we started to try and work on approaching people to start conversations. We managed to strike up one mainly due to the help from my mate. I felt no fear, nothing bad at all however for the rest of the night I just couldn’t approach anyone at all. This is all to do with confidence. While my confidence is returning it is still a small slice of what it was two years ago. Your confidence will always fluctuate on a day to day basis but at the end of the day it is a choice whether you pull it up or put it down. It’s all on You! I have got to work on pumping it up and removing the negativity that has sunk in over the past two years. Here we go again, Alpha and Out!

Wind Through My Hair

Well through my helmet at least. Finally jumped on the bike and rode to work leaving the gas guzzler at home. I have been making excuses, sleeping in, needed to drive, rain, anything really to sub-consciously avoid riding to work. But a decent hiking pack for all my gear and repairs done after my crash left me no more excuses and as soon as I got on the bike and started down the hill the exhilaration was great. I know sometimes you put off doing things because you think negatively about it but as soon as you start the activity etc you love it. Despite struggling up the hills, hampered by lack of time on the bike and also the tailings of a cold swirling around my lungs (significant amounts now lying in the grass surrounding the bike path), I still enjoyed my first ride in months.

Yesterday after a positive start to the day, the usual happened. Put off going to the gym because I had to "work". Failed that test. Went to the shops and didn't buy any extra crap I didn't need. Passed that test. Got home earlyish and after some initial positive discipline I dived into biscuits, cashews and lollies. Failed that test. Another long night infront of the TV despite my initial plan for the night led to a late night soft drink and a sleep in. Several other tests failed.

After seeing this pattern once again I realise that my weakness for everything is low in the afternoon. To reset this pattern I therefore need to limit my exposure to the trigger items and events. Things such as returning home early, not eating my afternoon snack before digging into the bad foods, poor stress management etc. So my plan is to try and not be at home between the hours of 1pm and 5:30pm, even on weekends as this is the trouble area. Better day today, got to finish it well. Alpha and Out!

Happy New Year : 2011

"2011: Rise of the Alpha"

Two Up and Down years have passed away it is finally time for a better Alpha to rise from the ashes of Awkward. This week when I find the time I am going to put some thought into mapping out the Rise to Alpha - dreams then to goals then to action plans. I will post them up by the end of the week.

Luckily going by weight and body fat percentage the christmas and new years period have left my largely unscathed. This is a massive plus and some positive feedback for me to motivate myself. Now that the silly season is over I can focus on approaching each scenario as "Tests" again. Over the holidays my big problem as always is afternoon snacking, failing to exercise and TV snacking. I am going to start with small commitments in terms of exercising, aiming to do just 1 hour of exercise a day and then ramping it up over the next couple of weeks, just need to get some consistency in my training. I am also aiming to restrict any deviations from my diet to be centred around dinner which I will eventually cut out in future weeks and finally I am going to aim to decrease my TV watching to bedtime only when I need to sleep. Hopefully I will report back tomorrow with a successful first day of the Alpha Journey. Alpha and Out!