New Lease of Life

The nutrition plan I talked briefly about in my last post is what has knocked 10 years off how I feel (at least) and honestly made me a lot more alert with more clarity of thought than ever.

My fiancee Kat has been telling me for several years the benefits of a raw diet, something she advised for her mum when she had cancer. The cancer has left her body and she is healthier than ever 6 years after she was given 6 months by the doctors. 

Since I had been put on Warfarin my diet had got worse, along with a lot of pressure at work my weight had shot up and time on the water all but disappeared other than the odd session in the holidays. I was starting to feel my age, with aches in both elbows, joint pain in my left foot and longer recovery times than I had ever experienced. In mid November I decided something needed to change, set my mind to it and started going for long walks with the dog in preparation.

Over Christmas we happened to watch "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" which is the pop culture version of the science Kat has been studying now for over 6 years. It all makes complete sense, and is remarkably well made and enjoyable to watch. 

I started out on January 1st 2016 weighing 102kg the night before. Today is February 1st, I now weigh 88kg but did eat a rather big curry last night (homemade with fresh veg, no rice). For most of the month I have been only drinking veg juice, the past two weeks I have been eating/drinking it blended with a Nutribullet. 

The first few days were hard and full of cravings, though the supplements such as magnesium that Kat was giving me suppressed the cravings. After a week I no longer craved crisps, now even the smell of them is like smelling the chemical cupboard at work. After 2 weeks I had a nut roast at the weekend, and yesterday I had a home cooked veg curry. 

Mixed in with all this is my exercise routine, much to the dogs disgust. Being a Bull Terrier he is not a big fan of long walks, so 8-10km every evening means he now slinks away when he hears the lead rattle. Also I am routinely doing 100 press ups, situps and squats. I am using free weights for my shoulders, arms and chest twice per week, and a turbo trainer and bike almost every day for 45minutes. 

It is without a doubt the change in food and not the exercise that has resulted in the weight loss, the exercise is simply getting me windsurfing fit again. Though a muscle somewhere in my calf is hurting a lot after yesterday, no matter how much training I do off the water it never prepares every muscle!

The goal is 85kg and to come off Warfarin by the end of April, I know the doctors will disagree, but if I go to them with much lower cholesterol and blood pressure that is down to 120/80 or even less then I have a good argument to stop it. 

More importantly I have found my windsurfing mojo again, and can't wait to get back out on the water this week!

Good speeds and winds

The trimmed down bus