Saturday 6 September

Got to gym at 8am, and the parking lot was starting to fill up quite nicely. Joburg day today!

We went last year and I got horribly smashed, so it was quite a contrast with today. Seeing all the partygoers getting ready to get shitfaced whilst I'm looking after my body and my health.

Don't get me wrong, I still like a glass of wine now and then, but now it's limited to 1 or 2 glasses a week, whereas before, I'd easily polish off a bottle of wine by myself when we went for dinner. And sometimes even when we just stayed at home. I think I was starting to get some alcoholic tendencies, which is another reason why I felt I needed a clean break. This challenge is just what I (and my body) needed.

Tried the Voltage for the first time today, and I don't know if it's because of that, or because I rested yesterday and had a good night's sleep, but the weight training went a whole lot better. Des still wore me out though - had to rest a bit when I got home just to get my energy back, but that didn't take very long. Had a Protein Plex shake and then lay down for a while and after that I was fine again.

Checked my Polaris heart rate monitor - it had gone up all the way to 187bpm - probably about the maximum for a guy my age. I can feel it too when I work out - it's really pumping and after some of the exercises, I really need to catch my breath. Fortunately, my heart rate seems to come down faster as well after every exercise, so that's a step in the right direction.

According to Des, this will definitely get a lot better as I get fitter, it shouldn't spike that high anymore.