Starting weight 79.kg Today’s Weight: 76.9kg
Well, it’s been three days since I posted and hallelujah, I’ve lost another 1.1kg (2 and a half pounds) so things are continuing to track along in the right direction. I’ve decided daily posts and a 50 hour a week job probably aren’t sustainable, so I’ll check in every two or three days instead with an update and a weigh in. Reading back, one thing I haven’t posted much about and which I think is really important is Fast 800 exercise.
In the book*, Michael Moseley talks about three main things related to Fast 800 and exercise. The first of these is HIIT (you can read more about that here) which is high intensity exercise undertaken for short periods. Apparently, if done frequently it’s as good for you as longer exercise sessions and he goes into the science in a much more comprehensive and compelling way than I could- definitely worth a read. Personally though, even though it’s a recommended form of Fast 800 exercise HIIT makes me afraid. As someone approaching fifty and overweight, I worry a lot about my heart and how strong or otherwise it might be. So, in reality pushing myself really hard when exercising makes me more than a little afraid. Whether or not that’s sensible or an example of over-anxiety I’m not certain, but either way, I’m genuinely fearful I might give myself a heart attack or stroke if I go too hard, even for a short period. For this reason, although I’m doing a very occasional HIIT class (but not going at 100% at the moment) in general I’m opting for slightly less intense but longer exercise periods.
The second thing discussed for Fast 800 exercise is resistance training. This is something I have read is particularly important for older women because of the changes during and after menopause. For those of you not au fait with the term ‘resistance training’, basically it’s any kind of exercise where you pull or push against resistance. That could be through weights, kettle balls, resistance bands or machines at the gym. According to Michael, you should aim to do this at least twice a week, with benefits including increased lean body mass, increased muscle strength, better body shape, an improved resting metabolic rate, lower fasting blood glucose, lowered risk of osteoporosis and lowered blood pressure. All of those sound like good things- and as someone who doesn’t drink milk (it gives me almost instant stomach ache) I’m particularly concerned about osteoporosis, so resistance training it is. I’m personally using dumbbells* and an Apple Fitness+ class for this.
The final type of exercise Michael discusses is incidental exercise. This is the stairs you take, the steps you walk, the house cleaning – the general day to day movement as part of general life. This is the real biggy for me, because frankly I’m far, far, far too generally sedentary. On weekdays I hop out of bed and walk the dog, but only for 15 minutes. I then drive my daughter to school (when she’s not at home in total lockdown) and then rush home to start work by 8.30am (when not in the office, which is the case now due to lockdown). I’ll then sit at my desk non stop till about 6.30pm only getting up to go to the bathroom or to grab food, which I eat at my desk. In the evening I often, but not always, walk the dog again (I have a dog walker in the day who takes them for a long run in the fields) but even so, my steps are often as low as 2,000 a day, which is frankly ridiculously low, although possibly not uncommon.
In an attempt to counteract this I recently bought a treadmill. Obviously in an ideal world I would get out and about and get my exercise that way, but a treadmill is the next best thing as long as it’s mid-winter and we are in a full lockdown situation where we are only allowed out for exercise once a day.
Nonetheless, I’m loving walking on the treadmill whilst I watch the news or Netflix as well as doing the odd Apple Fitness treadmill class. (These classes are a revelation for me as an exercise hater- they work you hard but it’s surprisingly enjoyable- and importantly, the time goes quickly- 20-30 minutes flies by. (They have dance classes too, which are great fun , although obviously you aren’t on the treadmill for these!).
I didn’t buy an expensive treadmill, and I don’t think it’s necessary to. (although I lusted after the Peleton Tread- but it’s way, way out of my budget, sadly). Instead I picked up the Reebok Jet 100 for just over £500 and I’m thrilled with it. It’s robust, plenty fast enough, more than big enough (they are deceptively large- check the space you have if tempted to get a treadmill!) and you can use Peleton/Apple fitness classes with it anyway, just by putting it in front of a tv or using an iPad in the lip designed to hold phones etc. The downside is that treadmills are really difficult to find at the moment due to lockdown. Usually they are seven a penny on Amazon but at the moment you can’t get them for love nor money – it took non stop internet stalking and a 6 week wait to get mine.
However, even with a treadmill I really struggle to get up to 10,000 steps a day, which is the amount Michael suggests. I get a lot, lot closer than I did pre-treadmill, more like an average of 8000 steps a day, but as I’m writing this diary to try and improve my accountability to myself I’m going to try and keep a note of how many steps I take and the other exercise I’ve been doing too. Please feel free to chastise me in the comments section if I’m being lazy!