I'm Angry Enough to Change Myself

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2008-10-13T04:05:00.000-07:00

testing before anti-spam robots release me;-)

Day 16: Nothing Changed Much

2007-12-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

I've been encouraged by two visitors to this blog, who, clearly, might come back if I updated often enough.

There are no lies here--just the blatant truth!

It's been some fifteen days, and I haven't made much progress. I guess at the back of my mind, I am looking forwards to the squash and basketball I shall be playing at Elmina Beach Resort in the tourist-like Central Region of the country next week, when the whole organisation goes for its annual retreat.

That's when I'm going to come back invigorated--and ready to ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumble!;-)

Let me just say this: it's been a while since I did sit-ups or press-ups. I am going to start that tomorrow, with a view to hitting the exercise bike...and then some. Been using for too long the excuse that I get up a bit later than usual, therefore leaving me little time to exercise!

What tosh!

Gotta get more serious! Be here tomw for a status report!

I Guess I Wasn't Angry Enough!: Month One, Day 1 Re-Dux

2007-11-19T06:44:00.000-08:00

It has been a while. Much water has passed under the bridge--and through my system.

I went to the doctor last week--Thursday 15 November--which is a year, 2 months and 15 days later only to have gone, according to the doctor's (electronic) scales, up to 111.4kg. This was strange, because I had been weighing myself (and tracking by way of a chart), and I was definitely less than 110kg. I had managed to go down to 105 kg at the beginning of the year, and had predicted going down to 100kg by June this year.

Alas, it wasn't to be. Apart from sporadic illnesses, I got complacent--and I'm pretty much back to square one.

I guess the import of all this is the blatant honesty I think I need to get my weight down.

I think it's important to keep it simple now. I don't need a gym. The folks purchased a few months ago equipment (arms, whatnot) that is much more than a gym for the home. So if I'm still this weight, it's down to ME. They exercise quite regularly, and I'm always making excuses.

Maybe I'mnot cut out for exercises. Maybe I am.

What I do know is that I grew hopelessly lazy, and took advantage of the rain to say that I would exercise later.

I know better now. I'm necessarily taking a laid-back approach to this weight loss, whilst contemporraneously getting serious about it.

Immediate STOPS:

no late-night nibbling before bed

no walking and eating!

(I like my cashews after a day's work!)

TO DO (plenty more!!)

Take my dog for brisk walks at night

Walk more briskly

wake up at 5 am to exercise

resume sit-ups / pressups

drink at least 3 litres of water every day

eat everything in moderation!

Let's start with that and get back to see how far I've gone.

It starts today--and right now!!

Sometimes it feels like this! : Month 12: Day 15

2007-08-15T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yeah. It's been a while. I was supposed to be here at the beginning of August, but I got to cleaning clutter around my desk, and at home instead. Either way, technically speaking, it's Month 11, but I suppose people have justifiably not been following. Oh well, things will pick up.

My scales started going wonky on me this morning. It looked like I had droppe half a kilo or so, and wanted to weigh a few more times to get the average. Regrettably, the scales stopped at "40" after I had stepped down!

Quadruple ouch and all that!

Thankfully, I'm a whisker away from payday, so I'll have to budget it. Pooh. Oh well. Better to be monitoring my weight for the price of some $2.30 scale, than fooling myself into thinking I am losing!!

A very necessary sacrifice--unless by some miracle, the scales decide to work...

I'm currently at 106.5kg. Regrettably went up and down, and sometimes more up than down:-(

Month 8, Day 20: Turning Thirty, Losing the Weight

2007-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

I turn thirty in some six days. Just learnt that a relative--a contemporary of mine--was hit by a car last night. He must have been around my age Possibly one or two years older than me.

All this goes to compound the importance of seeking to improve oneself whilst I am alive.

I am glad to say that I have lost FIVE kilos in three months, which should mean if I carry on this way, I should lose FIVE more kilos by June, and be the cynosure of many a woman's eye;-)) Even though I have and want Sandra, it doesn't mean other women can't look at me;-))

My formula since January has been PLENTY of cider vinegar, hot water, which I have been having since I developed a bad cough in December/In fact, I noticed that I was feeling a bit less stocky some hours before the New Year, and felt it was a positive development for the year.

I have not been disappointed. I am sad to say that, indeed, my PROPER exercising has fallen because of the laziness associated with this type of weight loss. I have been wallking almost a kilometre a day, so that's something.

Nonetheless.

The battle to combat fat, and become the slimmest possible continues! I recently -- this week in fact -- bought a tub of choco pasta, which I have taken almost a few days to almost-finish! Ouch!!

Best not get complacent!!

BTW, I am

105kg!!

Month 3, Day 8: You've Got to Check Out This Woman...Cheese!!!

2006-11-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

...but first, please allow me to introduce you to the blog of a very sexy, Black American student in her final year. This is the link to her blog: http://jenellybean.blogspot.com/. Coincidentally, her blog is called "Trials and Tribulations of Jenelley Bean". Check out her post on "Oh How I Miss Blogging", and find for yourself a picture of someone who was 40 pounds (circa 20kgs) heavier in January, and now in October, [9 months later], she's evidently, 40 pounds lighter, and effing sexier!!! SO that's on average 40/9, or 4.5 pounds, or 2kg a month?

Ouch.

Progress report:

I did 20 stretches; 1km (exercise) bike ride [I love it when I begin to see the sweat start to form on my hirsute body, and arms]; 40 sit-ups.

Still at 110kg:-( Ofcourse, I had had tea, almost a litre of water, and had just come out of the bathroom...before I weighed myself.

On and on we go...BTW,

EPIPHANY

: The cheese I have been having is this side of PROCESSED cheese! That could be the culprit!!

but please check out her blog, and my comments:

Delaleuverses said...

Wow, I must say congratulations on your weight loss, keep up the good work. I really would like to know how you did it, diet eating plan, etc. Please do e-mail me.

Great blog...I will come back again to read some more.

Sun Oct 29, 03:43:45 PM

Emmanuel.K.Bensah II said...

jenelleybean, I NEED to eml you, or better still here's my eml: ekbensah at yahoo.co.uk.

Among many of my other blogs, I serendipitously came across your blog whilst checking my tracker on my blog "Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen" )http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com.

I have another blog called "Angry Enough to Change Myself"(http://angryenoughtochange.blogspot.com, where I occasionally chronicle my tribulations of losing weight. SInce I started in September, I've lost two kilos and put it back on:-(( Bad dieting, I know. I have been exercising regularly: walk with my dog; bike ride equivalent of 1km on average three days a week, etc. Still, nothing. My latest post (yesterday) got me REALLY angry to do something more radical about losing weight.

I REALLY would appreciate your help.

BTW, how long did it take for you to lose that 40pounds (circa 20kg)?. I'm in month three and though I have been told I am gaining muscle from the exercise and it weighs more and all that, I NEED to start losing more! STrike that: I need to start LOSING!!

Let's hear from you on either of my blogs and/or eml, please...thanks!

PS--you did FANTASTICALLY! and you look SOOOOOOO sexy. Those white guys are just being hypocritical!! If I might add, you looked sexy when you were heavy, too!;-))

Wed Nov 08, 05:16:55 AM

Month 3, Day 7: Progress? Don't Bank on it:-(

2006-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

I'm angry. But enough to change? More like disappointed. Sad. Confused. I have a sneaky suspicion I am doing something wrong, but cannot put my finger on it.

So I had a bad eating habits last week. Big deal. It happens to the best of us. After all that burger was not something I was eating every day.

Ok, maybe, [I'm getting flashes of an epiphanous nature...] it's the fried rice and chicken, and eating out on about three occasions that I have done..ok...that probably explains it.

Ouch and ouch.

I have been doing my regular exercise. You know the formula: skipping; bike ride; fenix-walking; whatever else; stretches, and I'm experiencings ome serious pain in my legs. To the extent that I was reluctant to continue that exercise.

But something struck a chord: it wasn't just Mum telling me last week that my exercises are slacking, but buttressed by bank manager whom I went to see about a matter this afternoon. SHe somehow managed to find the time to tell me that "you're putting on weight". I told her calmly that I was doing something about it; she told me to "try harder", and then she recommended swimming.

I re-call that that's something Steph had mentioned on this blog earlier, but I didn't consider it--for purely pecuniary reasons. I am not prepared to roam town looking for a swimming pool; I wanna wait for the A&C Shopping mall to get its construction finished so I can be lazy and go to it instead, seeing it;s only some ten minutes drive from my workplace!

In the meantime, seeing as life is about choice, I am choosing not to put on any more weight; to cut down DRASTICALLY all that sugar (I'm getting epiphanous sensations that it's also a lot to do with that and possibly the cheese I am including with my breakfast) Tomatoes are fine, but cheese every day possibly is a huge

no-no!

I want to end the year at at least 105kg.
I want to end the year at at least 105kg.
I NEED to end the year at 100kg
I NEED to end the year at 100kg
I need to lose MORE weight
I NEED to drink more water
I need to eat LESS sugar

AM I a contradictory bastard? Yeah, cos I cannot even decide what weight I want to be at?

Tell me!

100kg. Can you do it?

I will try!

Not good enough!

Can I do it?

YES!

WHat am I?

ANGRY !

What am I?

ANGRY?

What am I?

ANGRY ENOUGH TO CHANGE MY WEIGHT!

(i'm hungry).

tags:
accra;weight loss;accra weight loss;losing weight;i wanna lose weight;angry enough;changing myself;

Month 3: Day 2

2006-11-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

On Monday 30 October, I did the following exercises:

1. 20 skips
2. 1 km equivalent of bike ride
3. 30 sit-ups
4. 15 leg squats....

I was 108kg!! YAY!!!...I always do plenty of exercise during the weekend by way of cleaning the bathroom; ironing; taking Fenix for longer walks--that's it!!!!

then I stupidly go and have some fish burger that afternoon in town!:-((

Poh, pooh, pooh.

It's Month 3, Day 2, and I am back to 110kg!:-( Didn't realise that it would have such a drastic effect. Coupled with that also was having stuffed almost myself with choc biccies on Tuesday (circa 3 PRINCE biccies)that you can see pictured above.

ON the healthier side, though, I have been eating cheese, tomatoe and sliced meat sandwich for breakfast for the past three days. Today included. I got some nice, brown bread, put sdliced tomatoes (fresh) inside; some cheese, and had some coffee. So DELICIOUS!

I will be sticking to that for some time, knocking back the cheese, by using half and the meat by using the same amount.

I suspect I could do better on these:
1. Fenix's walk (vigorous and longer!)
2. faster and more rigorous sit-ups
3. more stretches during the day--why not?
4. NOTHING, NA-DA, NA-DA, and NA-DA after 10pm!!!!
5. greater mental and psychological discipline

I drank 1 litre-plus of water yesterday, but NO change, yet:-(

I WILL GET THERE!!!

Month 2: Day 3: Am Losing it...

2006-10-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

You could say, in so many ways, that I have been emboldened by John Schaefer, and Steph's comments. Let's just say it.

I have been emboldened by...(you get the picture);-))

I am losing it...the weight that is!!

Yesterday, I weighed myself...and found out that I am 108kg!!! Ofcourse, this was after my shower before work, and after a visit to the bathroom; I still cannot get it round my head how much emptying ourselves of waste helps with weight-reduction! Can it be that heavy?

I need to build my muscles. I need to go for LONGER walks with Fenix. I need to be MORE DISCIPLINED in the evening over food. I NEED to continue my bike rides--for longer. Thanks for the tip over the twenty minutes, Steph!

Lessons learnt...certainly!

Points to Note for Exercising

2006-09-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

The only way to lose weight is to eat less.
Is hunger really painful? Doesn't it go away for a while if you get interested in or distracted by something else?
Exercise doesn't burn off significantly more calories than sleeping does. That is, your body's metabolism (digesting food, thinking, making your heart beat, healing cuts, and so on) burns off most of your calories, and you'll gain just as much weight by eating more as somebody who has been sitting around all day
it's very important. If you cut down the calories you eat without exercising, your hypothalamus will think you're faced with a life-threatening shortage of food. It will slow down your metabolism, desperately trying to make your scarce resources (usually the protein in your muscles) last longer. Then you'll burn fewer calories in your sleep.
So exercise! The activity will tell your hypothalamus not to burn up your muscles (since you're using them) and to burn lots of calories by keeping your metabolism going fast
Diet" is a dangerous word. It implies that when you lose enough weight you can go back to eating what you used to eat. No! Then you might gain the weight back. Don't "go on" a diet; change your diet -- your whole way of eating – permanently
Budget all the calories you eat into your diet; they're all good
Lower the number of calories you eat a little at a time, so you won't be too hard on yourself
Count the calories in everything you eat and drink, because all calories are equal, no matter what food or beverage they're in. Calories are calories
Drink lots of water; you need it. Yes, losing water causes weight loss at first, but denying yourself water doesn't cause more weight loss in the future, and drinking more water rarely causes weight gain.
Losing weight is about how many calories you eat. It's important to eat reasonably nutritious meals, of course, but it's not a good idea to concentrate so hard on nutrition that you don't have time to count your calories
You might want to try different eating schedules and see what works best for you at this particular time in your life

From: http://willigocrazy.org/Ch03a.htm#hypothalamus

The "Real" Day Four: Learning Goes on: AEROBICS, and When Weight Starts to Drop

2006-09-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning feeling rather morose, on account of the fact that it was beginning to be increasingly difficult to lose the weight I want to lose.

So I stepped on the scales, only to see that I was STILL 110kg!

I promptly woke up, went outside and did the following exercises:

20 sit-ups
20 skips
I rode the exercise bike for a good ten minutes till I started sweating profusely
stretching exercises that made me sweat (wow!)

I then came back, convinced that I would have lost a bit.

No!

I was a good…110Kg still!

I know for a fact that when I empty myself (go to the toilet) it reduces weight in me, but this was REALLY taking the biscuit!

Imagine how good it felt to come to the office, check Yahoo answers, and get these responses:

Choose a best answer q

ekbensah

Level 1

when you start exercising, how many days before you start visibly losing weight?

I started exercising more vigorously, and seriously cutting on fatty foods, and eating in between meals. My lunch is very small. Every morning, I ride the exercise bike to the point of exhaustion, skip twenty times; do 20 sit-ups and then walk my dog in the evening. Yet my weight is STILL the same of Day Four of my weight loss programme. Why?

2 hours ago - 3 day(s) left to answer. - 9 answers

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blythefan2000

Level 2

I would expect to wait about 2 weeks before I saw any visible weight loss.

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suzanna_banana

Level 2

you won't see the result so soon

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quagi m

Level 2

It can take several weeks or longer to see a diference.

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noogney

Level 3

day four seems too soon to expect a change, maybe your metabolism is yet to pick up, don't get swayed by these planned programs, everyones body is different and responds differently to diet and exercise. just eat healthy, watch the snacks, exercise and persevere, it will happen. dont push yourself so hard.

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MikeG

Level 2

Firstly, you shouldn't eat between meals. You should be eating normally and with a healthy diet (ie. morning cereal, salad/fruit lunch, red meat or fish dinner). Fruit snacks in between are good in between meals. Energy bars are also good for your cause.

Secondly, 20 skips and 20 sit-ups is only a start to losing weight. Gradually you'll have to increase that number to 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, etc etc. Also I don't know what you mean riding an exercise bike to the point of exhaustion means. If you ride very hard for 10 minutes and you're "exhausted" that doesn't help either. You should be on the bike at least 30 minutes to start out with.

Thirdly, you can't really expect to dramatically lose a lot of weight in 4 days time. Losing weight takes weeks, even months to complete. You're body is still adjusting to your new program, and once it's full adjusted, you will feel more conditioned and stronger, and be able to exercise longer. You just need to be patient and continue with the same routine, if not a little more. Gradually you'll be able to see results.

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Coolitz

Level 1

hey rome wasn't built in a day. give it atleast a week. maybe you are expecting too much to soon. besides it's not healthy to drop weight very fast.

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singitoutlou...

Level 4

for visual results it will take a few weeks. why don't you measure yourself. this is going to be a better method that weight and will tell you how you are doing. as for the food. go to the store and get some healthy snacks like fruit and veggies. put them in a bag for work. it is better to eat about 6 small meals during the day instead of just 3 big meals. you body will start to burn more energy this way. you are already doing enough physically. take 2 days off a week at least to let your muscle rest and heal. good luck.

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Art Diesel -...

Level 1

Do yourself a favor get a personal trainer to explain things to you at the local gym. The worst thing you can do is become frustrated over something that you probably know little about. Working out to lose weight is complicated and not as easy as one thinks. See a trainer, he answer your questions, get you exercises to do, show you how to do them properly, Push you past your limits and Fine tune your Diet. Exercise and diet should be about as fun as a small child playing at the neighborhood park.

Source(s):

MaximumCore.com

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Bobaloo_you!

Level 2

Do tae-bo with Billy Blanks. That man is a genius. You see results right away. And you feel it....in a good way.

23 minutes ago

SO great has been my joy that at least, it will take some time before:

my metabolism starts getting used to my regime
my weight starts going down

…that I was tempted to be naughty and go find some fatty food!:-) I desisted ofcourse…it was the morning after all…

Now, some useful links I am finding important are on AEROBIC EXERCISES et al.

I am writing this after having drunk a litre of water in one go.

Cheers!

Day Three: Not Easy...

2006-09-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

My diet yesterday was okay, but could've been better:

BREAKFAST
- a loaf of white bread and marmelade (no butter, no margarine)
water (0.5litres)

LUNCH
-- fish salad (with salad cream)

late noon: three "Digestive" biscuits, tea (with milk)

DINNER
-- chicken salad (with salad cream) + two small slices of white butterbread

weight in the morning. 109.5kg. Or were my eyes fooling me?

regrettably, I snacked on about three dry biscuits before I slept:-( Walk with Fenix was TOO short--circa 10 minutes

LESSONS LEARNED

1. a good, married friend tells me I should try to AVOID milk for the time being
2. I could have done without the biscuits
3. LONG (30 minutes+) walk with Fenix, my pet dog, and brisk as usual!
4. INCREASE skipping by 10 more; and pressups by 10, too!

EXERCISES in the morning
1. bike ride (circa 7 minutes intensive)
2. press-ups X 10
3. skipping X 10

Currently in the office. Ten minutes ago, I had TWO digestive biscuits (which I also had for breakfast (X8!!) and coffee (with milk!) Ouch!!!

lunch: plantain & peanuts...usually quite low fat.

dinner?

must take note of exercises, though -- Fenix, Ironing, etc...

will be back tomorrow--Day FOur. Should have lost the 1 kg DEFINITIVELY!!! I need to lose three this week!!!!

God, give me strength...

The Beginning--Losing Weight: Part I

2006-09-01T17:14:00.000-07:00

As you gathered, my name is Emmanuel.

I am highly imperfect.

I want to use this conduit to improve many aspects of myself...starting with...

my weight.

I completed a two-day visit to the doctor today to be told my cholesterol is high, and my weight a scary 110kg. For 6"-er as I am, that is scary.

I want to change my lifestyle and lose weight drastically.

I am obese, overweight.

I want to lose 15kgs in 4 weeks. Can I do it?

This is the first step. Come join me on my journey!