Time to loose da blubba (again!)

 

My very good friend Mark Harris (read his blog, by clicking here) gave me two large boxes of Maltesers today.  That, and a glimpse in the mirror of my side profile as I left the house this morning formed the mental trigger I needed.   (By the way, how do you keep track with those friends you were so close to when you were younger – but now, what with all the commitments that life, family, work etc throw at you, its all you can do to grab a conversation and hand over some Maltesers as you pass on a Sunday?)

 

Anyway, I’m here yet again – and this time its PERSONAL – I need to loose some pounds – and I’m going to share my experiences (well, some of them!) here – partly to help but also as its kind of a public commitment – which helps me!

 

 Firstly though – let me say from the outset that the only reason I’m trying to loose some poundage is for my own personal satisfaction.  This is in no way meant as a comment on anyone who may not choose, want or need to do the same!  Okay then, lets go… 

 

Now, as you may have guessed, I’ve done this before and I’m not far from having lost as many pounds over the years as I currently weigh!  Is there a pattern here?  Thing is, I think I’m approaching that certain time in life where such cyclical activity is going to be “less optimum”, lets say.

 

Firstly, we’ll start with a brief reminder of the facts… Basic rule is that calories in, minus calories out is weight gain or loss.  NOTE however that I said weight back there and not fat. That’s because apparently (and I’m no expert), muscle is a much more ready food source to the hungry body than fat. Anyway, the plan is for exercise plus diet changes, and I’ll run down both briefly… Exercise – basically getting heart rate to between 60 and 70 percent of your “maximum heart rate” (crudely 220 minus your age) for at least 30 minutes at least 3 times a week.  This apparently keeps you in the fat-burn zone and the longer you do it, the more fat you burn!  If you go above that heart rate, then you get fitter and may burn muscle as energy but no more fat than if you kept it at the 60-70 percent rate! That was an amazing revelation to me as it is REALLY easy to get to that heart rate and stay there for ages (aerobic – ie you recover as you’re doing it) as opposed to go like the clappers until you drop (anaerobic).

 

I’ll be using the stationary bike and will get in at several half hour sessions plus at least one 1 hour sessions per week. What’s more, if you can do your exercise first thing in the morning and don’t eat for an hour after (I be going for 6.00am – 6.30am) then you’re supposed to burn TWICE as many calories that if you did it later in the day!  This is because its after a period of fast and your metabolism goes into overdrive! I envisage fat dropping off and strength remaining. 

 

But I’m reminded of a book I read recently (You: The Owners Manual) that goes on about taking your heart to the max for 20 mins a couple of times per week.  Its not about weight loss but heart health.  Need to think how I get that in there – maybe some weights in the gym… 

 

Okay, food.  If exercise is my hubris then food is my nemesis! I could eat for Wales.  In fact, I could probably eat … Wales. For me, its all about discipline and avoidance – it has to be. That’s because I just don’t see “grey”. There’s the school of thought that says you need to eat like the person you want to be and do that for life.  I’m up for that but it takes too long.  I want fast but sustainable results. Gradually (and that’s vitally important so your body doesn’t go into starvation survival mode), I’m reducing my food intake in terms of type and quantity of food from, well, absurd amounts of absolutely everything to: 

 

Breakfast: 2 weetabix, semi milk, tiny bit of sugar (well, I am human), glass of orange juice, cup of tea and few gulps of Yop (yogurt drink) 

Lunch – sandwich, brown bread, no butter, usually either ham/tuna with a bit of salad in there. 

Evening meal – just what the family are having (normally meat, veg, potatoes – or lasagne or whatever – “normal” stuff) and a good size plate of stuff but no pud. 

 

There’s my main rule – absolutely no no no no crisps, biscuits, sweets, chocolates or cakes.  I just don’t do the “I’ll only have 1″ thing. Drink will be mainly water and the odd cup of tea during the day.  You need to sleep well. 

 

Weigh-ins will be each Sunday morning for consistency – and I’ll let you know the news.  I’ll take Sunday as my “off” day and anything (within reason) goes. But I need to come up with a plan for when its done (in, say, 4 months?).   You see, I’ve been here before – but this time, I need to work out a way of keeping it real!  I’ll tell you if I come up with anything – and will post updates on how the I’m progressing … 

Very late 30s, where’s the cocoa, my upgraded cat and what UMPC?

A very late 30s blog entry – can’t get much later 30s than this! So what’s been going on in my mind and during my week as I prepare to turn the page of another decade tomorrow?

Well, you may know about the Wii shortage in shops (not that I’m after one – been there, done that – then sold it on ebay) – what’s even stranger is the cocoa shortage!  We had over 20 people pass through our house today (pretty normal Sunday!) and Liz was anxious to find some cocoa for baking yesterday – but  we had to visit no less than three large supermarkets and a couple of small stores before we found a tiny tub of the stuff – where has all the cocoa gone?

Travelling backwards in time, had a lovely day today – my turn on security duty at The Heath – Peter my 60+ yr old neighbour passed by on his way to St Mark’s – he is SUCH a lovely chap – and its very good to have Wyn Hughes back from Africa (and North Wales).

Saw Joseph at the New Theatre in Cardiff – the bloke who came second in the TV thing was playing the narrator and there was one of the other blonde chaps playing the lead – he made it to the top notes but missed quite a few of the others on the way!  But what really impressed all of us was one of the 4 maidens who outshone all of her fellows with an endless passion in her dance etc – sounds odd I grant you – but she was great!  Trouble is, the kids have all seen the video with Donny Osmond starring – so this was, well, never going to be more than “yea, that was okay”…  Kids!

Work over the last week has been an interesting mix of things including the timetabling project, an IT strategy for the new City Centre Campus, user group meeting for the latter (whole day) etc.  But it also included some progress on a couple of interesting initiatives I have, including hosting a national competition along with one of our vendor partners (more later if it comes off) and some interesting research proposals with local people and overseas colleagues.

 

Oh, and I was also informed that the Learning Environment element of our Learning and Teaching strategy (the bit I wrote) was highlighted as a national exemplar and something that could be a model for taking the whole sector foreword.  That was nice to hear – but what we really have to concentrate on is implementing it!  Piccy above shows what it was all about.

And, I got Leopard on my MacBook.  Have I said how great I think Mac OSX is?  Well, its good – and what I personally like is the magnification function – so much better than others (allbeit that was there before Leopard).

Having said that though, I’m in the market for a PDA replacement and would like an Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) that has a SIM card slot for data (basically, a phone card for connecting to the Internet).  I’m looking at the latest offering by Samsung – the Q1 Ultra (pictured below) which is due for release with the SIM function in early December – anyone got any views or opinions on this or any other one?

You need at least one good eye-phone! (notes on the week)

Wow, it is hard getting used to this blogging thing, finding appropriate time – and “angle” – and them remembering to post (wrote this on Sunday but forgot to “publish” it!)

For example, I could elaborate on some particularly interesting elements of last week (which I will do below) – or else, I could point out some interesting news and tell you how surprised I am that I DO NOT want an iPhone (gadget geek that I am)!  You have to love the irony that a device designed to communicate with people at a distance is selling because of its ability to impress people stood next to you.  Yea, I know there’s more to it than that but I’m going to wait for v2 and hopefully avoid the poor download speeds and camera, plus lack of video and gps – not to mention ridiculous contract terms.  Oh, and don’t start me on accessibility issues … it should be called the “Must have at least one good eye-phone”.

Re the technology news front, maybe I’ve seen one too many Terminator movies – but was I the only one amused by the Beeb news home page over the weekend that displayed these two story headlines, one below the other:

“Skynet military launch is delayed” (Euro satellite launcher) and
“Schwarzenegger aims to end strike” (California writers’ thing).  

On the same day, it was reported that the US did however launch its “Delta IV Heavy” rocket thing that flung a 2,300 kg spy satellite into space.  Shame of course that we no longer know what a kilogram of dead weight is (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7084099.stm) – maybe its equivalent to a pile of hacked then updated iPhones, lol.

Okay then, the week that was the first back after Seattle (then a week “off” over half-term).  I kept on top of the urgent stuff while away but still 300+ emails left over to deal with!

But firstly, they’ve done the new letters on the outside of the Caerleon Library building – ooer, very nice – well done Lesley – and what about those Barbie pink windows!

In work, we’ve also been thinking (in various fora) about how we organise ourselves for years ahead and integrating our new City Centre Campus location.

The picture below is, of course, an artist impression of how it will look (better than some of the images that have appeared in the press!)  However, it took a while to catch up with what had happened over the last 2 weeks – you don’t realise how quickly things change around here until you’re out of the meetings for a little while! (Oi, where have the LAN cupboards gone!).  We’ve done really well to secure an excellent plateau level for a “heart” space and an information resource – veeeeeery exciting.

 

Management Board was its usual excellent mix including topics such as University strategy, learning agreements and student satisfaction levels, key performance indicators, strategic planning process, third mission strategy, information management and aspects of the student application process. A nice way to get right back into things!  We also referred to the Information Strategy Panel (that I Chair) and our discussions around online diary usage …

A similar group of staff meet with the Students’ Union and this year, the meetings appear to be particularly productive.  We have a very engaging student president – take a look at the new radio service they’ve launched (with help from some of our IT staff) – it “rocks”!  You can join the Radio Noize Facebook group or check out the broadcasts from here: http://www.newportunion.com/noize.php

I had also orchestrated a meeting with a few of us and one of our external national partners who are thinking about changing the way they do their business.  It was great to see their faces almost literally light up at the thought of what more we could do to help them achieve their vision and we’re both now really looking forward to the tendering process.  VERY well done to all involved!

One of my greatest privileges in working where I do, is being able to get involved with things like our Learning and Teaching Awards scheme.  The 4^th call for proposals finished recently and the week ended with a meeting to look at some really excellent bids for funding that will genuinely have an impact on learning within our University.  Top day and good end to a long week.