Last few times I did stationary bike at the gym I struggled a few minutes in and forced myself to do 15 minutes, maybe 20, out of embarrassment. Today I did an easy 20 minutes @ 15.7 MPH. Pulse 140 as measured from the 20:00 mark. Took it easy to see how I react tomorrow but don't expect side effects.

Other good news

- I have now logged three days in a row!
- Someone has started uploading Jeopardy! episodes to YouTube. Hopefully they don't get deleted. GOAT quiz show. Only downside is lack of subtitles. YouTube's automatic transcribing is excellent (was awful a few years ago) but alas it seems that YouTube only transcribe videos which meet certain criteria such as a particular number of viewers. So I can't do my ideal watch a quiz show with subtitles while listening to music but I still get Jeopardy! which is great.

Days are getting longer by more than an hour per sixteen days. Joy. Forecast for the next week is a little gloomy (might struggle to get tennis in) but after that I expect great things!

Just typed out a long post and accidentally closed the tab. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

23/02
Kcal: 2122
Protein: 134g

24/02
Kcal: 2661
Protein: 160g

tl/dr haven't had booze/crisps/chocolate/nuts in a while but having too many bad carbs (noodles, white rice) & fat. Going to sub them out for fresh vegetables (often steamed), fruit, brown rice etc. Want to look good for July & that won't happen at 10 minutes of biking and 2391.5 Kcal/day.

24/02

Didn't log but ate well! Went for a ~1 hr slightly hill walk in my favourite park.

Saw this guy

[IMG]blob:http://imgur.com/7554ac5e-a010-40b1-9442-418abf18e372[/IMG]

Found this photo of duck breast from two weeks ago



Best duck breast I have cooked & I didn't use sous vide or a thermometer. Nice feeling to cut into the breast and see you've nailed it.

Unclear what sort of exercise I'll be able to get in tomorrow. I would like to squat and bench press.

BTW, I'm going to more or less completely cut out dairy. Lactose pills soften the side effects, but my body still does not like dairy. I might bring this up the next time I go to the doctor - maybe they can prescribe me something strong or refer me to a specialist but it's easier to avoid dairy completely. I do like cheese but I suspect going dairy free is easier for me than for most.

Not bring it up literally, I hope! If I had such an intolerance I reckon I would just cut it out completely, rather than taking pills and suffering side-effects. Cheese I can take or leave, although I must admit I do like a nice milky cup of tea. Maybe its not as easy as it sounds to go cold turkey but worth a try I would think.

It's not that difficult especially since I cook quite a lot. I don't drink coffee/tea but I'm perfectly happy with milk substitutes with a bowl of cereal (coconut milk imo tastes better than cow's milk). Butter is delicious but rare than some variety of oil can't do the same job. I love pasta with cheese but Arrabiata & Bolognese taste great sans cheese too. Not eating pizza sucks, because pizza is delicious and sometimes you're watching the game with your mates & they order pizza & you're boned. But I'm 50+ lbs overweight so no pizza no problem. The biggest issue is if I'm at a restaurant or bar or coffee shop & they don't have a super large menu. I'm quite a fussy eater (no raw tomatoes, raw onions, chives, scallions, olives, coriander) so add in no dairy & I can be low on choice. If I ever go vegetarian or pescetarian this will be even more of a problem - I could be a de facto vegan (except for eggs) who didn't like a bunch of common vegetables. But for now it's mostly fine.

25/02

No exercise. Ate 140 Kcal of crisps, a couple of pieces of fruit & lots of chicken. Also egg, potato & some breads. Logging & lifting tomorrow - tennis on Tuesday!

Orly?

2-6 4-10

Played really well from 0-3. Got to 2-3 40-0 & had a break point at 2-4. The Professor asked me if I'd had lessons since we last played & later said it was the best I'd played against him. Key change I made was loosening my grip on groundstrokes, automatically gave my stroke a lot more zip. Still, I almost certainly ran v. hot for a few games too. Fitness was an issue but I think that will go away once I played tennis more than once every three weeks.

Weather nice today, if too windy for ideal tennis. Next week looks grey and rainy, after that I'm hoping for a few months of excellent weather - and the days are getting longer! Three weeks until the clocks shift.

02/03

Lots of protein. Tomorrow I'm going to take things easy with squat, bench press & yoga (best to get in the habit of stretching post-tennis?). Also lots of fruit & veggies. Then maybe something like run/row/cycle on Saturday, lift Sunday, tennis Monday. Might take Sunday off if I feel sore.

Gym was busy so did:

Leg press * 3
Chest press * 2
Lat Pulldowns * 2
Calf raises * 2

Calf raises avec 22KG dumbbells. Will definitely get some sort of weights in over the weekend - couple of sets of squats, couple of sets of bench press, some bicep curls etc.

03/03

Kcal: 1724
Protein: 125g

Good numbers considering I ate ~175 kcal of candy & about the same of wholewheat breads.

Bought some Saitaku Miso. This was a delicious 27 kcal. Can see making it a common part of my diet. Don't think I've had 'homemade' miso soup before. Lots of salt though - 900 milligrams, which is 40% of RDA from a (small) bowl of soup (that doesn't even taste particularly salty).

Bicep curls, 10KG * 18 * 2
Planks 60s * 2
20 mins bike @ 16.29 MPH, pulse 150

Want to do 20 mins @ 18MPH ASAP, pretty sure I can do it @ 17MPH right now.

Thinking tomorrow early squat, bench press, Monday tennis (weather permitting), Tuesday rest. A bit wary of squatting tomorrow since I haven't done so for a while & don't want to tighten up before tennis - will do two sets rather than three * stretch a lot.

04/03

Kcal: 2011
Protein: 105g

Good two day run of diet. Gonna keep it going. Last two days I've had 350g broccoli with 1 tbsp oil. 239 Kcal, filling & pretty tasty. More of that + steamed veggies will help with weight.

Tuesday is a good time to do a bleep test - will probably last < 5 minutes & I want to compare my score to last time.

Bench Press: 65KG * 12, 12, 8
Squat: 50KG, 55KG * 10

Going over 2,000 Kcal today.

Courts might not dry in time for tomorrow's tennis.

05/03

Kcal: 2101
Protein: 126g

Great Kcal number - required lots of discipline. Ate a lot early, then had a banana, 200g strawberries, a bowl of miso soup + 350g brocolli with 1 Tbsp oil.

Tomorrow I'll eat more, especially if I play tennis. Anything under 2500 Kcal would be a win & I'd be OK with 2750 Kcal.

06/03

Kcal: 2073
Protein: 95g

No tennis so no 2500 Kcal day. Would like to get more protein, may sub out 350g broccoli + 1 Tbsp oil for 350g steamed brocolli + 100g chicken breast.

Mother****er just deleted a long post.

TL/DR - 0-6, 1-6. Backhand sucked. Days are getting longer, sunnier, warmer. I am injury free. If I work assiduously, eat clean and exercise smart & often for six months I will be happy & healthy. Therefore I will work assiduously, eat clean and exercise smart & often for six months.

07/03

Kcal: 2802
Protein: 224g

1 pint of beer & 116 Kcal of candy, mostly very hungry.

Tennising on Thursday. Want to squat/bench press tomorrow a.m, rest on Friday but I'll take tomorrow easy if I feel sore in the a.m.

08/03

Kcal: 2323
Protein: 89 Kcal

2 pints of beer. Pint of Guinness has 210 Kcal. Pint of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has ... 288 Kcal? Would have never figured for such a difference.

Lateral Pulldowns: 105lb, 105lb, 100lb * 12
Bench Press: 65KG * 12, 9

Wanted to get some weights in but not tire my legs out (lots of walking today!). Bench Press was weak but I was kinda drunk. Get tipsy on 2 pints, these days.

1-6, 3-6

Double faulted at game point to go up 4-3 (a record!) in the second set. After that game I was done, thought of (and probably should have) ended the match right there. The final game in particular was really pathetic, I just couldn't move. Sneaked in an underhand ace at 0-40 which was very nice. Blue skies, T-shirt & shorts & some semi-decent tennis in the second set. All very nice. Tomorrow is definitely a rest day. Tennis on Monday which gives me time for a proper workout @ the gym on Saturday.

09/03

Kcal: 2747
Protein: 126g

Back on the late night broccoli. Good Kcal for a tennis day. Eight consecutive days of logging & I'm very happy with how it has gone. If I turn the eight days into eights week I'll be noticeably slimmer, fitter and healthier. Easy.

Squat: 50KG * 12 * 3
Bench Press: 65KG * 12,12,11
Bicep Curls: 12KG * 12 * 3

Going to increase squats rep weights by 2.5KG each time assuming I lift twice a week. This will get me back to 90KG * 12 * 3 in a couple of months although I'd be happy with 80KG or more. Bench Press I want to get back to 70KG * 12 * 3 & then maintain while cutting weight. Add in tennis twice weekly + on top of that whatever I feel up to. Rest, bicep curls, runs, deadlifts, planks etc. Don't have the energy for much more than 4 intense weekly workouts but perhaps that will change.

Tomorrow I'll go for a walk & perhaps hit a few serves. Tennis Monday.

10/03

Kcal: ???
Protein: ???

(Felt like slightly above maintenance).

11/03

Kcal: 2277
Protein: 112g

Feeling healthier than ages - no cold, no injuries (ankle still swollen but totally painless), eating well for 10 days, borderline t-shirt weather. Returning to ~2k Kcal tomorow.

Lateral Raises * 4
Farmer's Walks * 4
Leg stretching
500m row: 1:47.7

Raises and Walks were to 'keep things ticking' on an off day.

500m row to get a benchmark. Went out at 1:43-1:44 pace for the first half & got tired. Any improvement on 1:47 represents progress. Couldn't have gone much faster today.

Tennis tomorrow. Paronychia developing on my dominant hand. If I can't drain it tonight I'll take a diclofenac and apply a local NSAID. Forecasts split on cloud/sun. I'll stretch, watch some backhand videos and hope for sun.