Pete Mitcham

Alright. Done. Signed up on line (very pleasantly simple procedure) and a tax receipt emailed promptly. This thing is getting real now. Email with a welcome and a Week 1 shopping list (not required here, but thanks. Would be helpful for many) Ready? Yep, ready. Actually feeling fairly confident and there’s also a real sense of anticipation for Monday to dawn and the program to begin.

First a couple of pre-program boxes to tick. Current weight needs to be entered along with height, age and waist measurement (to be taken from trouser sizing if you don’t have a tailor’s tape. You really can’t do it with a Stanley 5m builders retractable tape. I tried.) Next, current profile – or ‘before’ pic. {optional} You’ve looked at your current self in the mirror, that’s why we started looking to change in the first place, remember? That’s not going online. Choose ‘optional’. Yeah, fair call. I’m all about after, really. Even though I now know my profile is not ‘public’.

So, here goes! My week of exercise is in two parts; Hiit (High Intensity Interval Training) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Mobility/Rest days on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The latter includes Pilates-style workouts and a Yoga session and a fairly rigorous stretching and flexibility session. Looking through the first few videos I see nothing that I think is beyond me physically and I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

Adam McDougall demonstrates one of the program’s ten minute workouts

How did my first week go, I hear you ask? Well, here are my numbers before and after and a brief excerpt from my Virtual Diary and you can decide for yourself.

“I have to start with a confession that I have grossly underrated this program. Ten minutes a day is not just easy so far but after three days I can actually feel a difference. Determined to stick to it. Going with the meal suggestions for now but have found that you can swap like-for-like from the extensive Food Library. Mentally feeling recharged or energised or something like that and looking forward to each following day. The website interface is well-designed with boxes to tick which earns ‘rewards’ – that’s your beers or pizza for the weekend. Weigh-in is Saturday or Sunday when I input my numbers and sit back with a big fat satisfied grin on my face.”

Starting Weight – 89 kgs Week 1 Weigh Up – 91kgs – WHAT?! F@#K OFF!! A lot!!!

Starting Waist – 38 inches Week 1 Waist measure – 40 inches WHAT?!? (See above)

OK. Deep breath. Small setback. No, not a setback, give me back those scales. Re-weigh. Same. F@#k. F@#k, f@#k, f@#ket-y f@#k.

But I feel 100 per cent better than I did a week ago? Alright, let’s think about this for a minute. Maybe my initial numbers were out? Re-checking pant size and taking the tape to them shows me that maybe the tag has been given a bit of a discount and my waist might actually have been a bit wider. Fortunately my Progress and Rewards page allows me to edit the numbers. But my weight was taken on some pretty expensive looking digital scales in the doctor’s office less than two weeks ago so must be about right. Right?

So, instead of a happy-boy grin, I’m walking around with a face like a dropped pie wondering where I went wrong and where I go from here. I decide to stick with it as I honestly do feel much better than I have in a long while and even Mrs Pilsner is noticing a change for the better.

Well, tomorrow starts a new week. New exercises and meals and a new chance to make a dent in those numbers that are now looming over me like a big gloating fat guy. Have to convince myself that this is not uncommon. Plenty of blokes must take more time to feel a real difference. A one-hour Facebook chat with Adam MacDougall and the Man Challenge Team seems that, while I’m not alone in not seeing ‘instant results’, there are also plenty who are shaving off the fat likes it’s soft butter.
A reply from Adam assures me that weight loss is not the only thing to look for and that “the weight took a while to take on – it might take while to take off.” Feeling better already.

As for those dot points from the first post? Here’s what I’ve learned:

• Ten minutes exercise, six days a week. EASILY DONE. BREAKFAST, THEN THE WORKOUT, GREAT WAY TO START YOUR DAY.
• Daily functional movement goal (step count) DONE AND DONE. GUESSING THE TARGETS WILL RISE AS THE WEEKS GO ON.
• Three meals a day plus two snack meals. EASY SO FAR. STICKING TO THE SUGGESTIONS AND MEASURING PORTIONS FOR THIS WEEK. WILL PROBABLY START TO IMPROVISE ONCE I HAVE A HANDLE ON THE CONCEPT.
• No equipment necessary. BIG TICK.
• No large space requirement. SEE ABOVE.
• Designed for blokes who are time-poor. YEP.
• No gym membership. WOO-HOO!
• Various exercise options to cater for varying levels of fitness and/or injury. HAVE USED THE MODIFIED/ALTERNATIVE OFFERINGS WHEN APPLICABLE. LOVE THIS OPTION.
• Exercise videos on laptop/tablet/smartphone. NO DRAMAS LOADING OR PLAYING OR KEEPING UP.
• Don’t have to give up the beers. HAVEN’T COMPLETELY AS YET. A BIT OF ‘WEANING’ GOING ON.
• Cost of around $2 per day for ten weeks. $24.95 PER WEEK FOR TEN WEEKS. OPTION TO PAY FOR THE PROGRAM UPFRONT GOT ME A $50 DISCOUNT ON THE PER-WEEK PRICE. WINNING! ($19 PER WEEK)

NEXT WEEK Week 2 and the Pleasant Discoveries. Prof has a ‘D’Oh! Moment.

Read more:
Professor Pilsner takes the ‘My Man Challenge’