What not to do?

This is part of the weight update series.. So lets say that last week I was doing great..! Was controlling my portions.. Burning more then what I was consuming.. Drinking plenty of water and eating fruits and vegetables...
I was a good boy.....!!! Then Sunday came along...

You know one of those Sundays when you have a BBQ, hell I was the one cooking to begin with..! So how you can stay away from the delicious food?? Specially if it is a BBQ..! that is my weak spot..!!! MEAT..! 

Come on..! Tell me you are not wishing you were there with me last Sunday? On top of all this yummy sausages and meat there was plenty of stuff to go around and snack on.. Cheese, pickles, chips/crisps and who knows what else... So by the time the food was actually ready you were snacking away about 1000 calories..! And now was lunch time..!!?? 

So I was almost full by the time the first piece of meat left my grill.. And the owners of the house never let my cup be half empty.. Every time I turned around someone was filling it with nice Spanish cold beer...

This means that I had at least another 1500 calories just from drinking beer..!!! Are you keeping track of the calories? Good..!!! I didn't..!

In a normal day I am suppose to eat no more then 1600 calories during the day in order to lose my 1 kilo a week.. I am not going to lie to you most of the time I am over that amount but I compensate by going for a walk or riding my bike.. so everything is in check..

But Sunday was a special day and when you are a guest at a party and the food is crazy good you can't be rude and say no.. You have to eat... Well you don't have to but I love to..!!!

Besides these meat is something I really love.. Argentinian Asado..!!!

So my wild guess is that I ate about a kilo or more of that beef.. and is another like 2500 calories.. So I was way over my budget for the day.. And to finish it up there was chocolate cake and other sweets followed by more beer and stronger stuff for the ones that like that sort of thing.. I had more beer..

To culminated today's report let me tell you that the scale said I was 97.9 kilos on Monday morning.. That was an increase of 1.5 kilos from the week before..!!! It only takes one day of eating out of control for me to gain what cost me so much to lose..

Now is time to restart (I did Monday already) the battle and cut back on all the good stuff to reach my goal of 90 kilos at some point in life..

Hope you enjoyed the what not to do post.. Share if you know someone struggling with this..

See you next week?

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

The Weight Update.

It has been a hard week for me... The beginning of a journey is never easy.. To break the routine and bad habits is hard... To get away from those things that bring us comfort is even harder.. With all this in mind let me tell you that I managed to drop some weight..!!!

Seems proper to post a picture celebrating this achievement 

How much weight did I actually lose?

2.1 kilos in a week..!!! It was not easy... Took a lot of self control.. And exercise.. As I started last week I was at 98.8 kilos and was doing my eating the wrong way when it comes to numbers.. After a quick look at the numbers from previous days I knew something was wrong..Something had to change..!

So I went to +MyFitnessPal and checked all my numbers... Soon after that I realized that I had the wrong set up..!! I wanted to lose 250 grams a week instead of my (high) goal of a kilo a week.. So as you can imagine I was eating way too much and not moving around enough to burn all the calories I was taking..

Once that was changed it was time to have a talk with myself.. This has to stop..! You have to control the way you eat..And so I did...No more of 1600 calories a day was the goal... And to be honest I don't think it was a single day I was able to eat only that many calories.. I really enjoy eating.. And most of the days I was just under 2000 calories a day...

Wondering why...????

But that was already a treat after a long day in the saddle..(I really love riding bicycles) So are you seen what I did? You need a bit more of explanation? OK is coming.. But believe me most of my lunches during the week looked like this...

In order to eat as much as I do and still lose weight I was really active last week... And here is a short list of my physical activities:

Monday to Friday I walked an average of 10 km a day.. dropping and picking my son from school walking has a huge impact..! I burn close to 1000 calories with these walks.
Saturday and Sunday are my long ride days..Or at least I try to make that happen.. So I rode between the 2 days close to 7 hours...

So you see is simple to lose weight you have to eat only what your body needs.. Do you do that or you eat what you want? First do that and then you will see the body get all the extra weight off by itself..

Thanks for reading and sharing (?) 

See you at the next weight update

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

My weight loss journey...

Remember a few months back I was posting about this journey and then I just stopped doing it... Why did I stop? Simple..! I got comfortable... I was happy..!! I got down to my so call normal weight of somewhere around 92 kilos...

So me at 92 kilos? Something like this...

Why the picture in a cycling kit? Various reasons.. #1 there is no place to hide..! The moment you accept that you are having a problem is easier to tackle it and start doing something about it..  So me at 92 kilos is not the image of a ballet dancer or anything close to it but at least I am light and able to move around easier...

Me at 99 kilos? This picture was taken yesterday by one of my cycling mates..

Well people tell me that I carry well my weight but that is not the point... After living with my body for 38 years I know signs that is time to start losing weight or at least try to do so..

Examples:

- When I am over weight I snore at night... This is a problem because not only I had problems resting... It makes my better half complain about it as well...
- Hard to get up the hills on the bike... And if you look around this blog you will realize that is a big part of what I do in my life.
- Is not healthy for my joins... Specially that right knee that got in an accident a while back.. Also is post about that in the blog if you like to know that story.

We could keep going all day naming all the issues that carrying extra weight in you r body brings and we all know that this change with each person since each body is different and reacts in different ways to carrying extra weight.

Eating a lot is something I love to do..! I really enjoy a big meal but we all know is not healthy for the body or the wallet either..! So it is time to start doing something about this again...

What do I do to try to keep this under control? How do I manage to lose weight? Or I better say how do I try to lose weight...

I am sure you read or hear about portion control before... Well this is what I do... Now how do you keep track of your meals? I have a partner to do this.. A virtual friend that with today technology is always with me... There is hundreds of them but I use +MyFitnessPal to keep and eye on what I eat and how many calories I burn.. The calories part I do with +Strava  and they are both linked so it is very easy.

So keep and eye on  My weight loss journey... as I will be posting updates with the journey numbers.. Remember I started at 99.1 kilos... Today I am at 98.8 kilos..!! this is after the first week..!

Thanks for reading and if you need some help losing weight join me in this journey..!

See you next week..!

Pablo 

The Weekend Report  "Fat" Guy

Steady is the key..?

Yes is that time of the week where you see this on +Twitter about this guy living in Northern Ireland trying to get back in shape... What guy?

This one..!!! Remember?

If you are not all that familiar with the story and want to catch up look between the previous posts is some related (each week an update) about how I am trying to lose some weight and most important to keep it off..!!

So today was the day I picked to step on the scale and see how the last couple of days were reflecting on my weight... Here is a report in the way of a picture to show whats going on..:

Can you see the progress? Last week I was at 96.2 kilos and this week?? 95.4 kilos..!!! Exciting isn't it? If you are not a person that has struggle with weight for most of your adult life you won't get it.. But thanks for reading any ways...

NOTE: you see this is one more reason to use +MyFitnessPal for tracking your progress or going the other way... Pictures and reports help you visualize where you are and where you want to be.

So this is a lost of 800 grams from last week to this one..!!! Almost double what my weekly goal is..!! I am happy with this new number on the scale..! It brings me closer to my goal..
What my goal is? originally I was thinking of 80 kilos but giving it a second thought... I might split it.. and stop at 85 kilos... A day at the time is what is going to work best.. Either way I am closer now then a month and a half ago when this "fight" started..

How did I manage this drop of weight? Here it goes:

- Discipline keep my portions at normal size and write everyone down, no diet, just control.

- Options I could drive Felix to school, I am walking with him every morning.. (45 to 60 minutes) and the dog loves it as well..

- Water at some point last week I started drinking a large glass of water every time I went pee, 2 reason for this behavior. 1 wasn't drinking enough to begin with. 2 helps me understand is not hunger but appetite what I constantly have. I can eat 24/7 no issues.

- Exercise sorry there is no other way, no magic spell.. It demands you getting up and moving.. I really enjoy riding my bicycle as you can see on the rest of my blog. last week I rode somewhere around 200 km in 7:30 hours over the 7 days. You can check my profile at +Strava add to this that lots of this cycling is done indoors using #gozwift.

And as you can see I am doing something that everyone can do.. it is a matter of options and will to chose the right path..

Now what way are you going to go? 

Is up to you. And you only..!

Thanks for reading and see you at the next post or update.

Pablo

The Weekend Report Guy

Set back? What set back?

Yes is that time of the week when I step on the scale and see what the result of a week of working out and writing down my meals and snacks (add drinks and anything that contains calories) did for me..
As you noticed already I am not using the word diet on any of my posts, maybe a hashtag to bring in more readers trying to do the same in this fight against the fat or overweight... Or maybe someone just trying to stay in shape and looking for a way of doing so without actually going into a "DIET"

Let's do a quick recap using that image.. This is week 4 already since I restart this journey against my weight.. And you can see how the weights goes up and down all the time.. Is normal..
My goal is to lose 500 grams a week.. Not a crazy number, but a bit on the high side of expectations, you set your goal low is too easy.. too high and is too hard.. Both ways are easy to get away and frustrate and then quit..

So if you clicked here for the first time you have an idea of where this post is coming from by now and what it is about as well... To have the full story just go back to previous posts and you will get the full scoop of this fat fighter..

Well I know you want to know what happened when I stepped on the scale this morning right? What do you think happened? Remember last week weight? OK I help you 97 kilos... It was a bit of a set back numbers ways... OK, OK the number on the scale this week was......

96.2 kilos...!!! I hope you get my excitement !! Seriously is almost a kilo in a week.. That almost put me back on track to lose the 500 gram a week.. 4 weeks = 2 kilos... Started at 97.8 kilos and I am down to 96.2 kilos so is a lost of 1.6 kilos in 4 weeks..!! 400 grams a week thus far..!!! I can live with that..

Want to know how I did it?

Want to know what my tools are?

For those that answer yes here is the answers:

Watching what I am eating... Seriously, write everything down I use +MyFitnessPal for it and is working. I eat whatever I want whenever I want... (portions is the key!)

The other aspect of it is to work out.. Sorry there is no magic pill... I don't have a secret formula.. It demands you to get moving.. To track my physical activities I use +Strava  last week I rode 369 km on my bike and walked somewhere around 20 km... Yes I spend a lot of time working out.. Or better say moving around.

But you want to know why I move around so much? Because I like to eat..! And eat a lot sometimes..! So I earn my "extra portions" by working out.. is like a reward program..

Example: want that extra slice of pizza tonight? If you are anything like me the answer is yes.. OK.. EARN IT..!! average pizza slice is like 400 calories.. This means a walk with the dog for 1 hour.. See what I did there? Killed 3 birds with one stone! Walked the dog, exercise and earn my extra slice of pizza..!!

Now if you have any comments or suggestions please feel free to leave a comment and if you think this can help someone you know share it..

Thanks for reading 

See you next week?

Pablo 

The Weekend Report Guy

Take that FAT..!

Oh yeah..!!! You can make that 2 weeks in a row that I am holding my ground on this battle.. Is two weeks that I am progressing if not much is a lot when you you are trying your best..

After the first 2 weeks I am down a whole kilo and a bit more..! Remember 1 kilo = 2.20462 lbs so I lost 1.1 kilo since this battle started.. That is 2 weeks ago people, stay on track please..! ;)

My goal is to lose about 0.5 kilo a week yes that is a pound or so.. I know is not much but according to everything I read and my personal experience is easier to keep that weight off when you lose it little by little.. (read somewhere that the ideal is 300 grams a week) then when you lose a lot very quick.. Here you can insert any of those "miracle diets" you know those that say lose 10 pounds in a week and stuff like that... 2 days after you finish the diet you have 15 pounds more... Sounds familiar??

Lets take a look at where I started and what sort of evolution I had:

Do you see? started at 97.8 kilos... the first week, even less after a few days I went to 95.5..!!! Great..! I been down this route before, I knew it wasn't true.... After the first week I was 97.2..! That was nice and a more reasonable number... But look at what happened a few days later... 98.1..!!! Oh oh..! No need to panic..!! I experienced this before as well.... After 2 weeks of just controlling what I am eating the magical number is? 96.7 kilos..! 

Wondering about the weight fluctuation?

My answer? WATER 70 % of your body is fluids.. some days you hold fluids some others you release them all...
Example? 98.1 kilos day... I had a normal few days, maybe ate a bit more of salt then usual and my body decided to retain some fluids in.. Our bodies are machines that has been at work and developing for the last 30.000 years... Is complex in there...

Another example? the 95.5 kilos day... rode my bike like a maniac the day before and didn't drink enough fluids (beer and coffee doesn't count) So I was exercising, this means sweating sweat means fluids... there is all the extra weight I lost that day.. When it when to normal levels everything was under control again... Advice? never weight yourself after a workout session or sauna... is a false happiness..

Well there you go my friends... There is no magic diet or pill to get to where you want to get.. Compromise and keep an eye on your meals.. is so easy to over eat.. And how hard is to burn it...!!!??? Don't get me started..!

See you all next week with an update of this journey to a better shape..!!

Pablo

P.S: Feel free to ask anything in the comments.. If I can I will answer your question. If not I am sure we can find an answer with +Google Chrome

Another weekend went by... What this one left?

Another weekend went by and left us a lot of memories and stories to tell from it.. Hikes, family walks bike rides with friends, events and an afternoon with friends having a cup of coffee is just a few of the thing that come to mind right away..

Views of the place where we live also are tattooed in our retinas, Belfast.. (and from the bike looks even better)  

This past weekend had a few things I really loved...

Friday, because the weekend starts on Friday on our way to school we broke the routine with my son Felix (7 year old) and took a detour that took us from our normal way to a hiking trail into the hills and close to his school..!! Post a couple of pictures here

With this we made a change that he really enjoyed and now wants to do every day.. Made something simple a memory that is going to stay with him for life.. Or at least I hope.

On Saturday I have no idea what exactly we did but it was busy and we were all over the place... I believe I added the +Amazon.com stuff here to the blog and that took me a while.. (by the way if you need to buy something from Amazon please use the blog to get to it, they will give me a few pennies here and there)

Later on that day we started to cook... WE? We is more then one person.. They put me in the kitchen and told me to cook.. I don't mind.. I like to eat well and the kids and wife love the home made pizza (no yeast) that I make, by the way that is a link to the recipe, steps and pictures of how to make this yummy and healthy pizza..!!!

Sunday finally..!!!

This means going out for a ride with the boys form the club and have a little social life away from the family.. Don't get me wrong.. I love them but they are a bit annoyed by me been home so much again after a week of me out of work... (have an interview Wednesday, fingers crossed) So they ask me to pleaaase!! go for a ride..! So I did..

As you know the preparation to go for a ride starts the night before... Getting the kit ready, water bottles, GPS, food, snack, checking the bike and all that fun stuff that half the time I forget to do..

So finally I got out and it was totally worth it..!

That is the sort of terrain you have around +Belfast  rolling hills in any direction you head out of.. Some steeper then others but everything looks amazing under the sun.

After our traditional all out crazy fast ride we stop for coffee and I saw this view that I had to take a shot off

Then a few other guys and me went on for a little extra spin to relax and enjoy the art of just riding your bike..

Today the sun was a pleasant companion..

After my buddies went their way and I went mine I decided that I wanted to go a little longer and take a few more pics...

Caught this guy pushing his bike up this hill... So I followed him.. (zoom in you can see it in the middle)

Why he was walking? Maybe this ramp discourage him?

But it was nice to get to the top and have this view as a reward... Belfast..! From the bike..!!

That was my weekend... I hope you guys enjoyed it reading and I wish there was a way for each one on you to share your story with all of us..!! Oh wait.!! There is..! Follow this LINK and become part of a great community.

Till next adventure.. 

Pablo.

Let the battle begin..!

It has been 3 to 4 weeks of some serious eating here at home, add to this the new schedules that we are trying to get used to, the lack of exercise, work, kids, Savannah's B-Day... Our wedding anniversary and Felix B-day.. One after another one..!

All good reasons to stuff my mouth, lets face it when you like to eat you can find reasons to do so every day.. And guess what? I really like to eat..

So after all this i stepped on the scale this morning... To be honest not all that surprised by what the little devil machine told me but i was hoping for something better... Hope is the last thing you lost right? I read that somewhere..

The number? Well how to put it? in a way that hurts my ego a little less... 97.8 kilos/ 216 lbs after thinking for a little while I couldn't find a way to put it that sounded any better.. 

What do I look like at this weight? 

Not too bad in street clothes actually

But remember I am a pretend cyclist and Lycra doesn't hide anything... (don't worry this time I will save the picture for my self)

So that said is time to start watching what I eat and what I do to go back to chasing a goal that I can't reach.. My goal? 85 kilos/187 lbs I been chasing this for the last 3 years and the only time I got close to it was because of an accident where I lost a lot of muscle due to bed rest.. As soon as I got up from bed I saw my weight creeping up to where it is today..

How I am planning to do this? 

Simple (in theory) 

- Watch what I eat.

- Exercise

So basically there is no secret right? If it was that simple we all be +Victoria secret models or professional athletes.

Is a never ending war to keep the weight down no? We try this and try that to see what makes it easier and works for each of us.. 

To me what works or better say helps to control and loose some weight is to track each activity and meal that I eat.

Thankfully with networking and technology this task became much easier.. The tracking I mean, the keeping the weight down still hard work..

So how i am planning to do this?

Using this tools:

+MyFitnessPal to track mostly the meals I eat.

+Strava to track the exercise part of it.

#zwift and +The Sufferfest to keep me motivated to go on the turbo trainer.

- Using this blog and all the network of friends and users to keep me going and motivated.

Can you help? Do you want to take part of this challenge with me?

I hope so.. Union makes us stronger to conquer anything.

Hope to see your comment down below with any advise you want to give me or just a cheers for support..

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN..

Pablo Alves.  

A B-Day Weekend..

No, not my B-Day... So hold your thoughts there for a minute, I didn't have the opportunity to go and ride a monster ride or an epic day on the saddle... But I had the pleasure of spending the whole weekend with some of the most important people in my life...

This is us

As the title says this was a b-day weekend.. The little man became 7 and we decided to do stuff that makes him happy... We looked around during the week for possible alternatives on what to do..
don't forget we live in Belfast, Northern Ireland so we decided for an indoor fun and active place..

On our way to this place we passed this:

You see this and think of? Belfast..!

Our option was at the end W5 and it was a great decision..! Glad we picked this place.. The kids and also us grown ups had a great time with the different games, experiments, facts, exploring and puzzles to mention a few of the activities..

Some climbing? Not sure how this is called..

We made some music..!!

We completed puzzles..!

We learned some physics laws..!

Made and watched hot air balloons rise..!

- First you filled them with hot air, then when they got full or reached the pressure needed they went up..!

Another view..!?

The little one enjoying some indoors climbing. (This looked really cool!! I wanted to go in!)

After a nice day out with the kids was time to come home and start cooking for the hungry family.. Katja and I decided to make an Argentinian BBQ for dinner for us and some friends that were coming... (salads, bread and other stuff too)

Here is a pic of the main dish... Obviously before grilling it... (Asado, Short ribs, beef)

The cook, having fun by the grill.. Noticed the matching clothes with the food? ;-)

In Argentinian tradition Asado and Vino goes together (BBQ and Wine)

And we found some tasty wine from back home.

And after 2 to 3 hours of slow cooking and drinking some German beer while doing it..

Dinner was ready..!!

We all sat together at the table, inside by this time since the weather got cold really quick when the sun started to go down..

We ate, we drunk, we sang happy b-day to Felix and had cake..(by the way the cake was made by Savannah from scratch.. Our daughter)

The B-Day boy had a great time and made it all worth it..!

The only problem with this is that I didn't ride the bike at all..! Ate a lot..! Drank a lot ! and gained some weight that I have to try to burn during the week..

Thanks for reading my blog.

Till next adventure.

Pablo Alves.

What did you do Saturday?

Good morning world..!

Yes is Sunday morning and I thought why not tell you a bit about my, our Saturday as a family living in Belfast, Northern Ireland...

Yesterday we had a small birthday party for our daughter and a few of her friends.. Nothing big or fancy but a nice opportunity to show the local people a little taste of my home country... WHAT? I haven't made a comment about where I come from? Oh well that seems like a good topic for another post..

Back to the kitchen, I mean to the subject... So we had people over and the kids and I decided to go for Empanadas Argentinas to show our friends what we like to eat.. You want to see what they look like?

Here:

Ooops...! That is not the finish product... But we are getting there don't worry... This is call an empanada "disc" and is what you have to make first in order to cook the dish... I never said it was easy.. Did I? (but trust me is totally worth it!!!)

So after getting the dough ready and cook the stuffing we were going to use it was time to stuff the discs and oven bake them, you could also fry them but you have to use a different recipe for the pasty.. if you try to fry this ones will fall apart the moment they hit the hot oil..

I know by now you are salivating and want to see the finish product.. OK i will make you happy...

Here are the ham & cheese ones (with Béchamel sauce)

Yes i know the picture has a lot of presentation and production in it but you want to know something else? They taste better then what they look..!!!


We also made some beef and vegetables ones, this is a home recipe that I remember my Mom and ants making in the kitchen for family reunions....Aaaaah #memories from growing up flashing in my head..

This one is was stuffed with ground beef, sweet peppers, onions and boiled eggs and spices (salt, pepper and cumin) I will be right back let me see if the kids didn't finish them...YET!!

So everyone helped in the kitchen, while I was rolling the discs the wife was stuffing them and the daughter closing them... A nice line production and a family activity.. Aaah almost forgot..! The little man was the quality tester since he couldn't wait for them to come out of the oven..!!!

So that was my Saturday in Belfast with the family and friends.. Also i spent a good part of the day trying to understand how this blog thing works out and making it looks a bit more "professional" LOL..!

What do you think so far?

Feel free to post in the comments your best dish with us... Recipes are always welcome and if you have questions or suggestions feel free to post them in the comments..

Happy Sunday..!

Pablo Alves.