My Health Journey: Getting Prepared

It's time to recruit some experts to help me on my health journey.

I need some help with what to eat - recipes and lunch ideas mostly - and what exercise to do!

Where to exercise

I know myself enough to know that I won't workout at home, and I'm not a people fan, so running and the gym are my go-to for exercise. I want to learn how to run 5km again, but I really want to focus on strength training to build up my capacity to burn calories.

My nearest gym is a Good Life and they offer a 5-day free pass. There is also a gym at the university where I work.  I'm currently waiting on a new work contract and will be moving house in the next six months so I don't want to commit to a long term contract just yet, and Good Life also offers a monthly membership. It will be a few weeks before I sign up long term, but for now, I will try the 5-day pass at Good Life.

I already have running shoes and work out clothes so heading out for a run is easy.  I also have a fitbit and Strava on my phone for logging my runs with GPS and heartrate for calories burned.

For an added element of fun, I have renewed my 'Run the World' membership to continue my Run Down Under journey!

What to do

For my learn to run, the 12wbt with Michelle Bridges has a 'learn to run' program, but I want to start straight away.  I have a C25K (couch to 5k) app on my phone which I am going to use.  Starting today!

While I know the trainers at Good Life will provide guidance, but I do like the structure of the 12wbt workouts, especially the strength training so I will switch to that once the May round (which I have signed up for) begins. For now, I have some workouts saved from earlier rounds that I will dig out! A month of consistent training will have an affect on which program I feel I can comfortably do during the round and I would like to increase my weights as quickly as possible to build muscle.

What to eat

With the 12wbt membership you get access to not only a calorie suggestion and meal plan, but also thousands of recipes.  While I know I will be mostly ignoring the calorie suggestion, I will be using the recipe index based off a 1500 calorie  plan, so the meals are about 3-400 calories each, to write up my own meal plans.

Breakfast I will choose one or two week and pretty much stick to cereal or eggs on toast.

For Lunches I have selected a few wraps for taking to work that are quick and easy to make (think ham and salad with mustard, turkey and sprouts with cranberry sauce) and then stick to leftovers for the weekend or simple meat and salad.

For Dinners are a bit more complex to plan but again, I will stick to easy choices that fit in with our routine and lifestyle.

My Health Journal: Starting Measurements

It is important to mentally prepare and plan for a weight loss journey (aka lifestyle change) but there are also some fiddley things you actually need to do to kick it off.  These are not essential, but can help later on - or so I'm told by others who have successfully lost weight.

Unfortunately, taking measurements and photos are included those things.

Photos

While I am not making my proper pics official, I'll also be taking some fully dressed, casual pictures that will be useable on social media.

To take pictures that truly show your weight loss for motivation along your journey, pic a spot that you can use every month, keep the distance between you and the camera the same, have the camera at chest height, use good lighting, and a plain wall background. Dress in a standard black crop and cropped workout pants or bikini - nothing tight enough to hold you in, but also not baggy enough to hide.  If you need to go down in size, keep the style and colour the same as much as possible.

Take photos from the front, back and sides.  The big question is what to do with your arms. I find putting your hands behind your head allows your middle to be seen better in the side photo, and showing off your biceps enables the arms to be seen in the back photo.

A side note: for any official 'challenges' they will probably ask for a dated newspaper to be included in the picture to stop any cheating. That is not necessary for your own personal use though you can edit your photo to include the date and details of your measurements for your own records.

Measurements

There are some standard measurements to take, (bust, waist and hip) for women as these are generally what is used in sizing charts.  I also want to throw in a few extra for myself: the neck, as this measurement can be used in body fat calculators; my belly, as this is 'my problem area'; and my arm and thigh measurements, as these areas also carry excess weight.  You can take whatever measurements you like based on the way your own body carries weight. Take note of which side of the body you measure for your arm and leg measurements.

Here's mine taken this morning: 

Weight: 73kg

Neck: 39cm

Bust: 101cm

Waist: 97cm

Belly: 105cm

Hip: 108cm

Arm (R): 33cm

Thigh (R): 58cm