Another blog from a big bloke trying to lose weight through cycling and a generally healthier lifestyle.

Shopping, tiredness and not cycling

Sep18
2011 1 Comment Written by SiBryant

A couple of weeks ago Lidl sold some cycling bits in one of their weekly offers. Not remembering until I was on my way home I was not expecting anything to be left (last time I was late to the show and everything had gone) but I was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of stock left. I ended up buying a couple of pairs of cycling socks, some winter cycling gloves, a track pump and a compression top.

The track pump in particular seems exceptional quality for the £6.00 it cost. It puts the one I paid £20.00 for a few years ago to shame! I guess time will tell but the signs are good. On to the compression top, I was after something to stop a bit of the old belly wobble whilst cycling and also to act as a base layer for the winter miles ahead. I got the biggest one they did and once home I thought I would try it on…… I was a bit too compressed! I got it on but could hardly breathe and struggled to get it off! Needless to say I won’t be trying that on until I have lost some weight.

I have been extremely tired lately and although given my lack of fitness I usually feel tired this latest bout is by far the worst I have experienced. I am my own worst enemy when it comes to exercise but at the moment I get up, go to work, come home and just flake out. I just have no energy for anything. This is a bad thing on two fronts because obviously I should be out cycling or walking the dog to help weight loss but also my 10 month old daughter is now crawling around getting into all sorts of mischief and I need the energy just to chase after her.

I will mention the tiredness next time I see my doctor. All of the above means I am not getting out on the bike. The bike is still buried and I have a lot of work to do to have somewhere to store it. I need to clear some rubbish out just to have somewhere to store it that is easy to access. The mere fact that it is buried means it is even easier than normal to not get out there.

Anyway that is this week’s update sorted.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Cheers

Si

Posted in Cycling, Weightloss/Fitness - Tagged , , ,

I’m back!

Sep04
2011 4 Comments Written by SiBryant

Did you think I had disappeared from the cycling/blogging universe?
Did anyone even notice? :)
Well after a lengthy spell not blogging and cycling I am back.

My reasons for not keeping up the exercise or blogging? Well I hit a wall back in May, I felt unwell, extremely tired and told myself I was making things worse not better. From that point on it was a downward spiral.
You may have read in a previous post that I knew I needed to go to the doctors but admitted I don’t like going and had been avoiding them, well in late May I felt bad enough to actually face up to my doctor and seek help.
As expected things were not good my weight, HbA1c, Blood Pressure and cholesterol are all the same if not higher than before! After a fair few appointments between then and now my fear about seeing a doctor came true, they wanted to raise my medication and after some discussion we agreed to raise the diabetes related meds but put a hold on the blood pressure meds to see if I can get it down myself.

This is where I am now. Tomorrow I will be digging my bike out of the shed and clearing the crap out to enable easy access to it. I would imagine the bike will need some maintenance but I am going to get out tomorrow for a ride.

I have realised that I need to push myself and that no one else will be doing this for me. I also know things will be hard but I have all the motivation I need. I don’t want to succumb to the problems associated with poorly managed diabetes, I don’t want to go on feeling as bad as I do about myself and I want to be healthy for me and my family. I want to be able to run around with my daughter as she grows up (It is hard enough now and she is only just crawling!).

I may contact my fellow bloggers soon as I would like to read about the first hard few months that people went through and draw on peoples experiences.

I will make the changes needed to get healthier, get fit and lose weight!

My journey begins again.

Thanks for reading.

Posted in Cycling, Diabetes, Weightloss/Fitness - Tagged , , , ,

Type 2 Diabetes and me..

Apr24
2011 5 Comments Written by SiBryant

Hi all

This is a wierd post for a cycling blog but my blog is also about health and in particular my health.

In 2005 i was feeling rather unwell and it went on for months and months. Eventually i called to see my doctor and he poked and proded and couldn’t think what might be wrong and in the end did a blood sugar test just to rule things out and low and behold my reading was 29.9!!! Those of you that know diabetes know how bad that is.

At that point in time i was working in a physical job and weighed about 4 stone less than i do now. After a visit to the hospital i was put on medication and given lots of helpful advice. I was totally shocked into action and i quickly went on to lose 2 stone through following a strict eating plan.
I was signed off work for a total of 3 months and when i was well enough to return i was promptly fired.
I spent some time out of work and lost a lot of confidence and piled lots of weight back on. In an attempt to makes things better i decided to try a change of career.

After lots of pain in the job market, which looking back was reasonable considering i was moving from being a FLT driver to starting a career in IT, I was given a 3 week contract and 4 years later i am still there and loving every minute. However and this is leading to the point of the post but along the way i gave up on trying to control my Diabetes and its affects on me.

So i am sat here writing this at somewhere near my highest weight and no idea of my blood sugar levels. Having seen Phill Connell’s tweet about his blood sugar it got me thinking. I need to control my diabetes and thats means taking it seriously.
I am taking 7 different medications daily and that depresses the hell out of me, i have not been to my doctors for a check up for well over a year. I am actually scared about going to the doctors! How stupid is that? It feels like everytime i go i get another medication or an existing one increased…

I feel like my health is getting worse lately and i need to do something sharpish. I know i should go and see the doctors first up but honestly it feels like a phobia and i cannot even get the courage to make an appointment. Completely irrational i know but its happening.

I suppose writing this and telling you all about it at shows that i am admitting i have a problem. I guess a good idea would be to start testing again. I REALLY need to start taking this disease seriously as the effects it can have if ignored could be extremely serious but even with all that going on in my head it doesn’t stop me from stuffing all the things i should not be eating into my cake hole!

I apologise if this all appears a bit self involved but i can no longer avoid this and keeping track of this on my blog may help in someway. Can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks for reading.

Si

Posted in Diabetes - Tagged , , ,

My bike and Yet another ride!

Apr21
2011 3 Comments Written by SiBryant

Here is my bike! Shot is in the dark but never mind. I will get a better shot soon. It is a Claud Butler Pagan ’09 22″ model and I think it is great!

My Bike - In the dark

On Sunday I went on another ride. It was similar to last week except it got extended. Being willing to extend the ride whilst out riding is a good sign isn’t it?

Here are a couple of shots of me whilst stopping for a break beside the Calder & Hebble Navigation.


I hope to look back at these photos in a years time and be amazed at my progress. Seeing Toby’s photos recently really brought home how much can be achieved in a year!

The ride went well and I am looking forward to the next one. I am also trying to see how I can fit some more rides in during the week (The bug must be biting!)

I did stop for a quick drink with just over a mile left….

Beer!

Needless to say it went down well.

Anyway that is all for now.

Thanks for reading

Simon

Posted in Cycling

Another Ride

Apr12
2011 2 Comments Written by SiBryant

Went out on another ride on Sunday 10th April. Details below. I actually enjoyed this a lot and will be doing it again on Thursday night.

I went from my house to a friends house (She will be doing the Manchester 2 Blackpool ride with me, We are both at similar fitness levels which actually means we are both very very unfit.) and then on the road to Horbury and a nice decent towards the Calder & Hebble Navigation where we joined the canal path back towards Ossett and then climbed back towards her house. The ascent was harder than the decent and thus we ended up walking the majority of it but it is exercise all the same!

It felt good to get out and the sunshine certainly helped. 6 miles is not a lot and it scares me to think that in July we will be attempting 60 but I will do all I can to get it done. It helps that some colleagues at work do not believe I have any chance of making it. That will only spur me on to prove them wrong!

Thanks for reading

Cheers

Si

Posted in Cycling

My First Ride!

Apr12
2011 1 Comment Written by SiBryant

As anyone that follows me on twitter maybe aware i have been guilty of major procrastination in regards to actually getting out on my bike! Well that ended on Sunday 20th March! Details are below, it was only 25 minutes but i found it very hard. My balance isn’t what it used to be….

Not much i know but a start is a start!

I promise to get out more and get the mileage built up. I could not have started this road to fitness without all the amazing stories out there. Thank you all!

Cheers

Si

*edit just realised i did not actually publish this until now! D’oh!!

Posted in Cycling
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