Mundy Blog

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2010-11-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

Beena while since I posted. Gave up on the whole getting fit thing for quite some time but anm Now back. Started off on September 5th at 16 stone 4, and I am now sitting at 14 stone 12. I'll be posting on a more regular basis but instead of just being a blodg to chart my fitness progress, I'll also be using this for my technical stuff.

Also, RIP Pat davies who sadly lost his fight with cancer this year. the man was a huge inspiration for many people.

Annoyed!

2009-05-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty annoyed with myself. My weight was coming down, my fitness was improving.....to be honest I never really 'noticed the difference' but other people did.

However; work for the last 2-3 works has been mental, as such I havent trained and I have eaten crap for the last couple of weeks......Now I realise there WAS a huge difference in me. Prior to the not excersising and eating crap I never really appreciqated how much energy I had (I guess you just get used to feeling a certain way) I never really paid ettention to the fact that I was getting muscles where I hadn't had them before.

Now...I feel like shit. I have zero energy, I'm craving sugary food and todays kettlebell class (the first in weeks) made me almost throw up.

I WILL NOT let that happen again. Thats it, I don't care what else is going on in my life I AM GOING TO MAKE THE TIME TO MAINTAIN MY FITNESS AND EATING WELL!!!

It's my own bloody fault and I'm pretty f'ing annoyed with myself.

Perspective

2009-05-12T14:04:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I posted. Work has been very busy - eating well has fallen by the wayside and had my first training session in over a week tonight. Expected it to kill me, however; it was fine.

Pat said something to me this evening that really struck a chord. He said that when he was training with me he noticed I'm not very relaxed and I'm a bit (and I quote) 'a bit 'Raaaaar!''. Pat compared this to how I might have felt when I first started out in IT...How I may have been nervous and unsure, not very experienced and hence not very relaxed....which was right on the money. nowadays, I don't get flustered, I know what needs to be done and how to do it.

I need to get into this same mind set with my training. I need to understand that this will be a life long learning experience and that I need to slow things down and learn the nuances of the movements, the subtle body mechanics. I have to accept that with time and practice will come confidence and competence.

It's amazing how perspectives differ and hearing Pats started a train of thought that has allowed me to reconcile something in my own mind - and that is simply to relax, enjoy it and not to expect to pick this stuff up in a heart beat. It's taken me 14 years to get as good as I am in my job (I'll be even better in another 10) - and it's the same with martial arts.

So, I'm going to relax more, I'm not going to worry about my mistakes...but I will learn from them and I'll be a better fighter for it.

Bob Spour

2009-05-03T07:20:00.001-07:00

Found out on the Friday kettlebell class that Bob Spour, all round hard ass, author and ex-SAS member was running a seminar on the Sunday.

Thought it would be awesome exposure to improve some techniques in Muay Thai.

The seminar was awesome, I was expected a lot of talking and not a lot of doing, which was totally off the mark. Bob is a twisted man and some of the excersies we were doing could only have come from the depths of hell.....I exagerate of course; but it was fucking tough!

My technque has certainly improved, I see where I was going wrong with some of my body mechanics, and while I have not 'perfected' the movements, I am taking steps closer to becoming at least competent.

A nice surprise was being awarded 2nd Khan in Muay Thai!

You can visit Bob's website here: http://www.bobspour.co.uk/

finding good food

2009-05-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to become more aware of what foods I should eat (and when) and what not to eat. In order to cut fat but maintain my lean weight I need to up my protein intake (especially on work out days) and lower my carb intake.

I am having some oats + protein powder + semi-skimmed milk (will drop this to skimmed, cant take it with just water!) and a thumb full of flax oil. Tastes quite nice and really keeps me going....not only that but the oats give me my carb intake and ensure a slow energy release during the day.

Lunch I'm still eating porridge and a protein shake and for supper it normally consists of grilled turkey / chicken and lots of greens. I estimate my calorie intake to be around 1600kcals a day with around 120g of protein and 30g of carbs. I don't know if this is effective....but I'll see how I feel / look in a few weeks and the adjust as neccesary.

If I'm out and about, it's near impossible to find good food - thats to say, contains the protein and fats I need.....it's all fast food crap in boxes, with loads of sugar.

I understand why there is so much conflicting info on the web now, it's because no two bodies are the same and activities / stress etc differ - what works for one, might not for the other.

As such, I'm going to work on a trial and error basis- I'll know myself by how I feel and how I look if it works for me.

One thing I have noticed with the protein is that when I sweat it smells weird, I don't know if this is normal or not but it's almost as if you can smell the protein!! lol, time to get a Lynx bullet and some sugar free gum!!

Finding the time

2009-04-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

Well the last week or so has been a pain in the arse. Trying to find the time to get to my classes has been proving a struggle. I'm on call this week as well, which meant I had to skip tonights classes and miss out on one of my favouries.

As such, I have bought myself a weigh bench and a selection of weights - so even if I get stuck in the house on my computer (I work in IT remember!) at least I can work out! Looking forwward to getting my kettlebell from ray as I know that the kettlebell work outs are going to make a huge difference to me.

Feeling a bit down and guilty about not being able to attend class, but not a huge amount i can do about this right now. Saw Pat on Tuesday and he was looking a little pale, and after reading his Blog I understand why. The bloke is a total inspiration and just rock solid. His approach to training / life / medical issues is a real kick up the arse when I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Weight loss...or lack of it

2009-04-21T12:57:00.001-07:00

Well I got some news that was a little disappointing. Even though my sugar levels have stabalised greatly and I am feeling healhier than I ever have, I have been told that I have a problem with my thyroid gland.

Essentialy my thyroid is working harder than is considered normal to produce a low level of thyroxine. I'm not sure what all of this means yet and I have some blood tests tomorrow so that the Dr can properly see what is going on.

Bit of a bummer, but hey ho, could be worse!

Excellent class tonight, really have to practice the sectors in kali, I really love the stick stuff :)

Pat has a brilliant way of explaining things and makes it seem easy, he said tonight that he is guide, his intention is to show you the way and let you find your own path. I like that.

Kettlebells

2009-04-18T11:10:00.001-07:00

Well spank me with a haddock and call me Susan, these kettlebell things are awesome. Had the Kettlebell workshop today which is run by Ray - http://www.kettlebellsaberdeen.com

The workshop is designed to introduce you to the workouts and some basic movements and mobility drills. I was clenching muscles I didn't know were there. It's hard work, to be honest I wasn't expecting to be as knackered as I was! Looking forward to seeing the results in 3-4 months time and how this affects my other training. If you have not tried Kettlebells before, I can highly reccomend it and if you are in the Aberdeen area then get onto Rays blog and get signed up.

Diabetes

2009-04-16T12:16:00.001-07:00

Well had a 3 month check up today and the Dr was over the moon. my average blood readings over the last 3 months have been 7.2mmol :) prior to that I was averging 15! What a difference all the excercising and eating better have made. chuffed to bits! :)

Feeling good.

2009-04-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today has been a good day. Training was excellent, started off with Jung Fan followed by JKD. Have to say that the JKD is definately my favorurite thing, I can see it becoming hugely complex but the effectiveness of the technique is undeniable.

Pat is a great instructor and Chris and Ray have also been helping me a lot, there instruction is clear and concise and they are all very patient.

So I have eaten today:

2 x Oatso simple oats with semi skimmed milk - 440kcal
2 x small apples - 100kcal
6 slices of nimble wholemeal bread (300kcal) (I really need to stop eating bread!!)
1 x tin of pea and ham soup - 230kcal
2 x whey protein drinks - 230kcal (38grams of protein)

Feel satiated. Will no doubt have a hunger attack mid week tho!

I still have no idea baout nutrition....again; you try and Google this stuff and everyone has different advice.

2009-04-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Just back from a trip to England, ate badly and generally feel like crap - time to get back on it! Will be logging what I eat daily on here so I can see what works and what doesn't over a given time frame. Theres so much conflicting infomation out there so I guess I'm just going to have to find out with trial and error.

So I'm back to 15 stone ten :(

Today so far:

2 x packets of oatso simple porridge oats with semi skimmed milk (440kcal)
4 x cups of coffee (next to nothing)
2 x small apples (100kcal)
Tesco mixed fruit salad (55kcal)
1 x Fish supper (Kerry messed up the baked tattie and got us a chippie!) - god knows how many kcals.

BJJ

2009-04-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

Had another Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class last night and I'm in quite a bit of pain today, seemed to have bruised my rib(s). Have to say, first time I did this class I thought it was a bit weak, didn't feel as though I had exerted myself.

That changed last night, by the end of it I was bloody knackered, was the first time I did some proper grappling and to be honest today I feel pretty fucked.

Working in IT

2009-04-02T02:24:00.001-07:00

Working in IT can be a royal pain in the ass. My particular skill set is based on server technology, networking and security. Which is to say I can build and install a server(s), configure them for connectivity, create a network and have everything talking to each other and then make it nice and secure. Just because I work in IT it does not mean I automatically know everything about anything with a fucking computer chip in it.

For instance, you want your Blackberry setup and all your contacts copied from one phone to another? Well go ask someone who deals with these devices, because I bloody don't. In fact, why don't you just go on Google and ask it? But no, that would be too much like hard work and god forbid you have to figure something out for yourself.

Shall I fix your car? it does have an ECU after all.

More and more people these days seem incapable of using their brains and trying to figure out how to do something for themselves, and it really REALLY annoys me. There is no reason for ignorance or stupidity. I'm not an educated man, I left school at 15 and started my working life in Fish Factories until I decided to do something more with myself. There is no excuse, no reason for anyone to claim 'I can't do it'. You can, just get off your ass and do it.

Car drivers

2009-03-31T02:59:00.001-07:00

Everyone says that riding a bike is dangerous, it's not. What IS dangerous are car drivers trundling along in their steel cages without a care or a thought for those around them. In the last 3 days along I have counted 8 cars that have pulled out right in front of me to the extent I have had to take corrective acion to avoid a collision. Naturally when they get a blast of the horn these people just look at me as if I'm stupid, as if I'M the one in the wrong!

It disturbs me that people can pay so little attention to things. If people were to open their eyes a little more and take in the world, then perhaps they would notice the little events and changes around them. Maybe they would notice that what they have just said and the tone in which they said it has hurt someone. Maybe they would notice that additional legislation being introduced further erodes our hard fought for liberties :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7888301.stm

Perhaps indeed if people stopped thinking about their own self importance then a whole new world would open up to them, and of course; maybe they would notice me on my bike and stop pulling out in f'ing front of me!

Blueeeergh

2009-03-30T01:19:00.000-07:00

Being ill sucks ass. I have a cold right now and it's really F'ing with my mojo. The worst thing about the cold is that it's never bad enough to justify holing up in bed for a few days, you have to go to work and suffer!!

My weight has went up to 15 stone 13 over the weekend, not entirely sre how. I did have a bag of maltesers the other night, but surely that can't explain such rapid weight gain. I do not understand this whole weight loss business. I eat really healthy and am doing 5-6 hours of moderate to intensive excersise a week, why the hell am I not losing weight?

Have purchased a Gi for Brazilian Ju Jitsu, not my favourite class I'll admit, but I think will form an essential part of my general martial arts training. Some of the grapples etc are pretty complex and hard to get my head around, but I'll stick with it.

Have I mentioned having the cold sucks ass?

It hurts dammit!

2009-03-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

Well since passing the grading and moving out of the Phase 1 class at AMAG, I've been attending the other classes. Last night was my first time at Muay Thai boxing. The initial warm up almost killed me, Bill Mutch is an evil taskmaster. Was a good sweat fest though and it's quite an interesting style, lot's of knees and grappling.

http://www.amag.org.uk/muay_thai.htm

After the Muay Thai it was Kali - Have to admit this is probably my favourite thing. I'm incredibly clumsy at the moment with little to no co-ordination, but the movements feel great and there is something satisfying about wielding large sticks!! Last night we practiced the following drill:

Weight today is 15 stone 9. Have been trying to eat no more than 1800 calories a day, but at times I get so ravenous I end up having a couple of slices of toast, which then makes me feel bloated. I need to do a bit more research on nutrition I think.

2009-03-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Lovely day today so before training tonight think I may take the bike for a blast. favourite road at the moment is the Cairn O Mount road.....bit tricky in places but certainly keeps you on your toes!

Anywway here is a picture of my bike. A Yamaha Fazer S2 - 600cc, purchased new Last September (passed test on August 26th) have done 5400 miles so far.

Training tonight, 1815 is Thai followed by FMA.

My first post

2009-03-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

Well here it is, my first post. I have always kept a low prinfile on the T'internet but thought it would help me (and possibly others) in my bid to get fit. I've never really made a serious attempt at increasing my fitness levels or eating right, so it's all new.

I should have been eating right a long time ago as I'm type 1 diabetic, but it's one of these things I guess where you don't consider the consequences of a mis spent youth until you are a bit older.

Not only that but I'm getting married this September and would like to lose a few punds by then :)

Anyway, I'll be updating this as often as I can with my progress and just general crap from day to day life.