The week of the run in….

Its here….The week before the big weigh in. Friday is the day it all kicks off. The LEEDS LARGEST LOSER weigh will take place at Wheatfields Hospice this Friday. Yes, that quick.

My preparation was supposed to be physcological only. All about getting in the frame of mind and setting it up mentally. I am sure you know where I am coming from here after all a 10 week plan of action is not something to be taken lightly.

So, I decided to change my diet on January 1st. I thought this might get me prepared and I could show my trainer the diet sheet and it would be a seemless changeover come the start of the event. What I had failed to consider was the fact that reducing calorie intact to 1500 from January one might actually have a massive impact on my weight prior to the start of the event. Yup !!

It has….! Pounds have been shed and the LLL weigh in hasn’t taken place yet. For my personal reasons I made a mental note of my weight (which I hasten to add, will not be displayed here)

Roll on Friday….

Just got more motivation…from a man in the know

I mentioned in earlier posts about Jessie Pavelka and his TV shows…Obese: A Year to save my life & Fat: The Fight of my life.  I draw real inspiration from the mentor and the TV programme.  They showed the whole series over Christmas and in light of my new goal and venture I took the liberty of downloading them and putting a big K next to them on the Sky Planner for keeping. I decided that these would be the perfect tools for motivation that not only show success but also failure too. They demonstrate  what happens when you fall off the horse and never get back on. In a more positive note they also show what happens when you stick to the plan and achieve your goals. The shows have given my such an insight of what is to come I almost know the episodes word for word. Not such a bad thing I can tell you… watch this space.

I took a particular interest in one of the participants, a great guy called Lee Veasey (pictured left after the event). Lee was a man-mountain at 34 stone before applying to go on the Sky One program.  This is text from an article from Ripley & Heanor News:-

The 30-year-old from Greenfields not only lost more than half his body weight during the filming of the Monday night show but he gained a possible career as a personal trainer. Slimmer Lee said he applied to the Sky producers because he wanted to start a family with wife Nicola, 28. He said: “When I turned 29 I was at that age where I thought I have really got to start thinking about other people.

“I thought if we have kids, when they get to two or three, I don’t really want to be in a wheelchair.” Lee applied for the show, hosted by personal trainer Jessie Pavelka, back in September 2010, after wife Nicola spotted an advert in the Sun newspaper. The series, which first aired on January 2 this year, challenged super size men and women to lose weight over the course of a year.

Camera crews began filming Lee in October 2010. A production team documented his fight against the flab until last November. Lee’s training schedule saw him hit the gym at William Gregg VC Leisure Centre in Heanor for two hours every day, five days a week.

“It was tough,” he said. “Just because it is so hard to fit that around your daily routine.” At his heaviest, the Aldercar engineer was 37-and-a-half stone, meaning he found simple tasks difficult. Even fitting into a chair at a restaurant was tough, he said. “I would sit down at the end of a day and my feet would be absolutely killing me.” Lee added. “It had such a big impact on my life. I was outgoing but it really restricted things that I could do because I was big.”

Now Lee says he has swapped the double-size dinners for a balanced diet and a regular workout regime. He is now a qualified personal trainer and is taking a course to become a fully fledged nutritionist. He said: “I’m carrying it on to help people who were in the same situation as I was. I’m hoping I can change their lives now.”

I decided to send an email to Lee to ask him about motivation and the mind-set of taking on this kind of challenge. My challenge, shorter though it is…is still long-term for me as It will not stop after the challenge. The idea in my mind is that it’s a life change and not just for 2014.

Last night I received a reply from Lee and I was completely gob smacked. How kind of someone I have never met to take time out of their day to do this for me….I want to share Lee’s words with you as they really motivated me and took me beyond feeling anything like this before.. Lee said…

Hello Mark

Sorry I haven’t been in touch sooner. It sounds like you are doing amazing buddy keep it up.

First of all, to stay motivated I was setting my targets and working towards them and then doing something to look forward to once I hit it. If you feel like your slipping sit down and write down your food plan and training plan and make sure you stick with it. Also believe in yourself.

2nd my thoughts were always I wanted to do better than anyone else on the programme and wanted to never let anyone down. Also loved the way I could get nicer clothes.

3rd be honest with yourself and defo be honest with your PT, if you are not they cannot help you as much as what you need them to. Plan your meals and training sessions. Fail to Prepare, prepare to fail. Very important. Also work hard and always push yourself.

Hope this has helped to buddy, and stay in touch and let me know how you are getting on.

Lee Veasey

So what other motivation do i need when the Icing is on the cake (Thats not a good expression under the circumstances). A message from someone who has been there, done it and worn the T-Shirt all with the best in the business?

I don’t think I do….Its already started.

Thanks for reading

Raincheck…Email has arrived

Its arrived………… the confirmation email has landing in my “Inbox”. Looks like Leeds’ Largest Loser has another competitor… Moi!

Since January one I have been trying to change things in the eating department. And despite letting go last Saturday I have done extremely well. With my daily diet cut to 1500 calories I thought I might feel super hungry in between meals. Maybe not so hungry though…..I found out that snacking on certain fruits is a big no-no in the dieting world as they are full to the skin of sugar

Yes…thats right…S U G A R … I don’t take sugar in tea, I don’t even take sugar in coffee either and as for breakfast cereal I am currently restricted to porridge. For clarification that is porridge made with water and no sweet topping. I am determined to stick to the programme one hundred percent and if this means dropping certain things then so be it. I shall conform. So its started…the dropping of certain items from the shopping list and also from weekly routine too. In amongst this list are the following:-

Mars Bars………one of the essential items whilst out taking photographs when hunger strikes… this is now a big no-no.

Coke (Coca-Cola) …although nice to drink it can actually strip paint and clean a coin for goodness sake. I mean, seriously why would you want this inside you anyway.  Just to clarify I don’t drink the stuff, well maybe a “diet” friendly version so it’s no real loss in the first place

Pizza…. This is my downfall I’m afraid to admit. I love Pizza…. Pizza and I have an affiliation you know. It stems back years when Pizza Hut was too close for temptation and a Medium Deep Pan with Tuna and Pineapple was Sunday tea every week. Living alone has it downfalls too you know?

Now as much as I had an affiliation with Pizza Hut my relationship with McDonald’s is slightly different. McDonald’s sits mid-table if the MW food league. It’s a take it or leave it food…very handy if you are caught short and need a munch but other than that it wont really be missed. Having said that the Chocolate Donuts are something else….Forget it Marcus!

Chinese…well, Wednesdays used to be a great day. Take-Away Wednesdays we used to call them. Now sadly removed from the 2014 calendar at Winterbourne Towers and never to return. Thats is unless I develop some ultra-thin body overnight as unlikely as it is.

So, as this blog entry draws to a close, the calories are being counted and the nerves are setting in for the big starting weigh in next week.

For now, that is all.

It’s real……

You know that feeling of sudden reality? The one that suddenly brings everything to the forefront and you realise that its is actually happening? Well today it suddenly struck me.

Up until now my donations have been online and as much as they are real it still feels surreal. I havent had my official sponsor form arrive yet but this is probably down to Christmas and New Year. Today, or should I say “Just now” this all changed. I received the mail, late as ever…since when has the postman arrived at 1:30 in the afternoon? In the post was a hand written envelope which I slowly opened. Slowly as I didn’t recognise the handwriting. Not that it would have made a difference if I had opened it fast…..Wonder why I did that?

Anyway, to cut a long story short…I got my first offline donation…. yeah ! Wow…it’s all suddenly become real. It’s happening…NOW

I don’t know why I am rambling on about this, its all been real for three days. I am on a pre-event changeover, just three weeks early that’s all. I have decided that the “annual” New Year diet will become my last as this year I am going to succeed. It will never happen again… after this year I will hit my target weight and I wont have to do it again…trust me !

It’s now taken on a whole new meaning with a slight glitch in the health department, but something that this challenge will change and kick it up its backside. So, for three days I have been eating sensibly and doing well. I am actually going to say that I am proud of myself. I got on the scale and weighed up…I was pleasantly surprised to see that over the last 18 months I have only gained eight pounds in weight….I was surprised to say the least. I think Elaine was more surprised than me.

Anyway…I am going in the right direction. I just don’t want to lose too much weight before the actual start of the event. So I have made a crucial decision, to change my diet but to limit the daily excersise…this way I wont shed excessive amounts before the event. ! Case closed.

Hope I made the right choice..after all, whats a couple of weeks.

14 days to be precise

It all begins…. January One

Life change is what this is all about…. planning and sticking to the plan. What can I do that I don’t know I can…what are my abilities.  I’m not sure if the truth be known. I think I am relying on the pro’s at the gym I am allocated to help me with that one.

New Years Eve came and went…no binge drinking, not that I am a binge drinker to start with. No excessive eating, just a quiet night in to round off a peaceful christmas. In the terms of my dietary changes this was going to be the big one. January One is the day I start. It’s not the official start of my Leeds Largest Loser but I reckon that a three-week run in for life change wont do me any harm. So that was it…a whole day of being careful, portion control, avoiding the biscuit tin (which was quite easy as we don’t have one, whatever was left from the christmas selection was either thrown away or sent skyward to my sons bedroom to never be seen again) and really behaving.

I did it…and it worked too. The hardest part was the thirty minute cross trainer workout where I actually broke sweat. Having said that it felt good and all I kept saying to myself was “This is the easy bit Marcus”. I think I am right in thinking that…..I’m sure I am going to be pushed a lot harder than this.

The day concluded with a marathon TV viewing of Jesse Pavelka’s Life changing program. I find this guy a fantastic mentor. I think he should record a coaching mp3 that you can play on your iPod while you are training. His words are so motivating. One of his quotes was ” No more selfish decisions… too many people count on you now”

Okay..so there is a photo of Jessie Pavelka…..I’m not ready for my photo just yet. I suspect, to my horror that the LLL (Leeds Largest Loser) somewhere will incorporate a before and after image. So its inevitable that its going to happen. For this I must prepare.

I am totally motivated by my good friend Liz Ellis. She has battled Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and since had a battle with weight and come out the other side shining like a star. Shes a superstar and deserves the credit. You can read her blog here …. her power and determination just knocked me for six…I want to do this I thought.

So why am I blogging? Well, I have turned to blogging a few times before. I think it’s a great way to create a journal, not just a personal record but also a diary that can be shared. A tool to show success ( Im not going to use the F word… F A I L U R E)  as I am going to teach the spell checker that the F word is vulgar. I am hoping the blog can assist me in this journey. A journey that will carry on so much longer than the ten weeks of the challenge.

I am ready for this….. ready for hard work, determination, blood, sweat, tears and discipline.

Here we go folks….the heat is on.