Dani Week Summary 15 days later...
Day 15 102.8 kg Day 0 110.2 kg
In the past few days, a few important and significant events have taken place in Hungary. I'm talking about events of historical importance, including the fact that the Republic of Hungary got a new constitution after 62 years, but even more importantly, Dani lost 7.4 kilos. So we have left behind our temporary 1949 Khrushchevite Dobi constitution, and hopefully Dani's old lifestyle as well. We are talking about 35 kilos of excess weight in Dániel's case, so we can safely say that we are at the beginning of the journey. A weight loss of 7.4 kg in 15 days seems a lot, but in this phase, 80% of the weight loss is water and 20% is fat, and the hard part of the program is yet to come. I don't have even a quarter of the time for Dani as I do for Petra, but Dani doesn't demand the same kind of attention as Petra. I am lucky with them and I am glad that I chose them, because they are both determined, enthusiastic, have set a goal for themselves, and are progressing well, disregarding any hindering factors. Dani's goal is to lay the foundation for a healthy life before starting a family, which should be one of the strongest motivating factors for him not to give up the program, or to succumb to the diet or the workouts.
Me: Petra, have you read the latest article?
Petra: That short one, the 20-day one?
Me: What short one? Didn't you notice the "more" button at the bottom?
Petra: Oh, there was more, then I'll read it.
Me: ........
For Dani, the first big test was the business trip to Munich, about which he also wrote a report, and which is the best example that there will be situations during the 3 months when the circumstances simply do not allow strict adherence to every single meal. Mentally, however, you have to be very present at such times, because if you have done EVERYTHING YOU CAN, but the circumstances were not given, well, that's it, but that doesn't mean it's over and you throw everything away, ruining several weeks of hard work full of sacrifices. When I talk about the mental preparation for a lifestyle change program, this is what I mean, among other things. To prepare for such situations, to overcome them, to conquer unforeseen obstacles that you simply have to ignore and move on, because you have to be strong, and besides, it's ridiculous not to have that much willpower. Rather, don't eat anything at all, but don't shove every junk you consider healthy in your face instead. Be mentally present and want it maximally, stick to the program. That's the essence. When I went to Vienna for 2 days during my diet, I solved my evening protein dinner by finding a gym, going in and asking for a protein shake. There is always a solution, sometimes you just have to be a little creative. Dani is very enthusiastic. We were just going for a run in the park, when suddenly his alarm went off on his phone. I asked, "What's that, at 6 in the evening?" He showed me: 6:00 PM dinner. Yes, somehow everyone should do this. This is the attitude with which success can be achieved. Otherwise, it's very difficult. A few words about the workouts. Dani runs 2 kilometers in 5 x 400 meter segments with one-minute rests, with continuous heart rate monitoring. Two things need to be paid close attention to when dealing with overweight people weighing 20 or more: the heart and the joints.
BREAKING !!! Determining the maximum heart rate. 220 minus your age, this gives you the number that if you exceed it, you should stop exercising immediately. So if you are 25 years old, your death number is 195. There is a range called the anaerobic zone, where if you stay for a prolonged period - i.e. more than 2 minutes - nausea, vomiting, fainting can be expected. Just so everyone understands. 220 is the basic heart rate number, from this you subtract your age to get the number you cannot exceed because you could die. From this number, you need to subtract 10%, which in this example is 195 - 10% = 176. This anaerobic zone is between 176 and 195. Everyone should calculate these values for themselves, because it is essential for safe, controlled workouts. I hope everyone understands, if not, they should definitely get themselves assessed.
I will also write a separate post about heart rates...
With Dani, we will gradually increase the running and training load, because as he loses weight, his heart and circulation will experience less and less strain. Right now, we can't talk about any muscle shaping, despite the weight training; for now, we're just losing weight at a thousand miles an hour and burning fat. Damn, there's plenty to burn. Dani asked when he would get a six-pack. I told him when we got rid of that 30 kilos of excess weight, but if I were him, I wouldn't think about it that often before spring 2012. I ran with Dani twice, once at KSI, once in the Liget. Now I'm accompanying him to a gym factory called Fitness 2000, where I've never met more brutal animals, even though I've been active in the nightlife for a few years. Some people there were curling as much as I bench press. Seriously, I was looking for the guy in the corner with the tranquilizer dart, in case one of them went wild during training. Dani comes here; it's a 10-minute drive for him. The place itself is, in my opinion, a former workers' militia dormitory on 5,000 square meters. There's an entire floor just for cardio, with at least 80 treadmills. I wasn't in the military, but the whole style must have been something like that. Especially the changing room was particularly barracks-like, so it's not exactly a snobby Life1 place.
I will accompany Dani here three times until we complete all 3 gym days, and after seeing his workout, I decided to revise his training plan because his muscles are not yet ready for these exercises. I was the fool for trying to make a complete beginner do pyramid exercises, not to mention super sets, so we're going to rearrange things a bit here and tear up some upholstery. I also slightly rewrote the diet, reducing the portions, cutting back on rye bread and milk, oranges only on training days, and brown rice replacing white rice.
All things considered, I see no obstacle whatsoever to Dani not completing the program. His wife is also helping him, and of course she is, because she wouldn't be a woman if she didn't want to have a say in this. In fact, she has also started some kind of diet, thus helping her breadwinner in his determination. It's a bit strange that everything is going too smoothly with Dani, but then again, maybe it's just the 23 days spent with Petra that makes it seem this way, because with her, I'm used to anything happening at any time. Because what is it, that we're walking on Andrássy at 1 AM on Saturday night, drunk idiots everywhere. It's basic that they cross the road all over the place, I tell Petra, "Damn it, honk their stupid heads off." Petra tells me to calm down, not to get upset. What does she do 150 meters further down? Damn it, without a single word, she pulls the steering wheel towards two guys at the corner of Nagymező and Andrássy, but don't think it was just a slight tug. No. She pulled it fully towards them, so much so that if they hadn't jumped back, we would have run them over, and the most terrible thing about the whole situation is that if the two guys had jumped inwards instead of outwards, we wouldn't have been able to avoid them and it would have been a hit-and-run. Two other girls were sitting in the back with us, one of them was so shaken that she got out at Liszt Ferenc Square. It wasn't that funny there. This woman is truly not normal, and she's capable of things like this at any time, and then I shouldn't be upset? I don't have problems like that with Dani. I ask, he answers, if I say something, he does it, if something is not right, we change it.
Thank God, another holiday is over where you have to spend more than 25 minutes with the whole family. I confess, I find these family gatherings increasingly difficult. This is when average weekdays become more appreciated. Year after year, the same faces, the same well-worn stupidities, stories repeated to the point of exhaustion. These are standard things, it's like a bad script that we play out year after year. Grandmother hates my father, grandfather hates my mother, the two grandfathers' ancient political rivalry, my mother and her sibling didn't speak to each other for 10 years, and his wife genuinely hates everyone, and after the second hour, she finds it increasingly difficult to hide it. And we sit there with my cousin, and we're fed up with the whole thing. Grandfather gets drunk, and of course he gets drunk because I drink with him to endure all of this. Then grandfather starts reciting poetry, and this is the surest sign that we really need to leave, because usually a massive argument would follow, you know, the unspoken tensions. Now, thank God, we don't have to play this hypocritical "we are one family" charade again until Christmas.
To everyone, belated happy holidays. Just saying, I didn't sprinkle anyone this year, and I'm prouder of that than how I passed my literature final. (third from the left, Madách's The Tragedy of Man)
