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Benchmarks: Week Fifteen

Welcome to Phuket Fit’s weight loss and fitness blog. I’m your host, Aaron Rowland. I’m a 27-year-old writer from Los Angeles, California. At my heaviest weight eighteen-months ago, I weighed in at 160 KGs.  I’m here at Phuket Fit to lose weight, improve my fitness and have the adventure of a lifetime. I’ve been here ten months so far and I’m staying indefinitely. My favorite exercises are the bicycle crunch and the medicine ball slam. Tire flips, suicide planks and burpees give me nightmares.

What Changes Are Important?

As I move through this weight loss journey, I’ve noticed that the scale can be quite unpredictable. Up a small amount one week then down a big amount the next week, it can be tough to determine success or progress utilizing just that one number. Over the next few weeks, I’ll try to start introducing other benchmark measurements to help track my progress. While muscle growth might prevent a large number on the scale one week, things like body measurements or fitness tests could provide a clearer picture in terms of general progress. This next week, I’ll explore the weekly Big Buddha run and how tracking your time on that each week can be a great way to track success.

Active On The Weekend

Every Sunday afternoon, Phuket Fit has a weekly trip to O2 Beach Club. It’s a great chance to socialize with other guests from Phuket Fit, as well as get in a fun Sunday workout. They have water polo nets set up in the pool, as well as a volleyball court. There’s always a large group of Phuket Fit guests in attendance, so it’s never hard to get a game going. Everyone is welcome, just talk to Joey in the Phuket Fit office if you are interested in coming. I’m there most weekends, so definitely come on down and join in the fun!

Queen’s Birthday

This last Monday, camp was closed for the Queen’s birthday. That’s no excuse not to get a good workout in, though. Even when camp is closed, there are countless fun and healthy ways to enjoy an active day. Swimming at the beach, wakeboarding, and hiking Big Buddha are just three of the many ways to stay active near Phuket Fit. Even jogging the road is a popular activity at all times of the day. I’d recommend getting an early start, though. In wet season, the temperature can still get really hot. Always bring water and electrolytes with you, even if you don’t think you’ll need them.

The End Of Week Fifteen

I step on the scale, not sure what to expect. It’s always tough to follow up a big loss with another great number. Unfortunately, that’s true for this week. I’ve pretty much stayed the same moving from 105.3 KGs to 105.6 KGs. I can’t be too upset after a great week like last week, but I am started to get concerned that my weight loss is starting to stall. If next week’s results are similar, I’ll need to take a hard look at drastically altering my diet plan and exercise routine to something new, that will hopefully shock my body back into losing large numbers. I’m still down over 45 LBs in fifteen weeks, but I don’t want to slow down now.

What’s Up Next?

This week will be more of the same. I spent another great Sunday at O2 Beach Club with our Phuket Fit crew and my workouts have been pretty similar to past weeks. Check back on Friday for an interview with another fantastic Phuket Fit guest and check back next week to see how my journey is going!

Have a great week of weight loss! If you set your mind on it, I know you can do it!

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Benchmarks: Week Twelve

Welcome to Phuket Fit’s weight loss and fitness blog. I’m your host, Aaron Rowland. I’m a 27-year-old writer from Los Angeles, California. At my heaviest weight eighteen-months ago, I weighed in at 160 KGs.  I’m here at Phuket Fit to lose weight, improve my fitness and have the adventure of a lifetime. I’ve been here ten months so far and I’m staying indefinitely. My favorite exercises are the bicycle crunch and the medicine ball slam. Tire flips, suicide planks and burpees give me nightmares.

Back Into A Routine

Fresh off my weeklong detox and ready to train full-time, I decided it was time to get into my usual routine. Body fit in the mornings, a light breakfast, cross training in the afternoons, a healthy lunch, and then a few hours of rest before a small dinner. Doesn’t sound all that exhausting, but trust me, it can really take it out of you. The classes at Phuket Fit are intense and require a great deal of rest and recovery to prevent injury or muscle fatigue.

Getting Stronger

On Saturday, I took another trip to the wake park with friends and did some wakeboarding. It had been well over a month and a half since my last experience there, and I could really tell a big difference in my strength and ability. Over 5 kilos lighter and a good deal stronger, I was able to get a lot further on the course and found launching off the dock to be easier than I previously had. It was such a good experience; I even treated myself to a couple drinks afterward at a beach club.

Knowing When To Slow Down

When you’re training 5-6 days a week, multiple times a day, it’s important to listen to your body. If your mind says “stop,” you might be able to push harder and test your limits. If your body tells you to stop, on the other hand, it’s important to do so. Overtraining can quickly lead to injuries and illness. It’s a lot better to miss a class because you feel to sore or exhausted to participate, than it is to spend weeks away from training due to mistreating your body.

The End Of Week Twelve

I step up on the scale and discover I’m down 0.8 KGs (1.7 LBS) this week. While its not as high as my usual weekly total can be, I’m thrilled to be losing weight at a steady pace, now that I’ve returned to my pre-detox routine. I was definitely worried that my body might be resistant to burning fat after a week of super-clean eating, but that’s clearly not the case. If I can keep going at the pace I am now, I should definitely be at my goal weight of 85 KGS (187 LBs) by the end of the year.

What’s Up Next?

This last weekend was the monthly BBQ beat down, which often means alcohol and poor food choices are on the cards. They certainly were this time. What that means, though, is I need to work extra hard this week to make up for the extra calories consumed. Can I burn them off and have another great week on the scale? I guess we’ll see next week! Until then…

Have a great week of weight loss! If you set your mind on it, I know you can do it!

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Whos That? An Interview With The Chef Of The Phuket Fit Grill Cheffy Baby

A self-described “Alien food freak sent from the future to save the human palate”, Cheffy has been wowing Phuket Fit guests with his culinary creations for the last year and a half. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Cheffy and a 1994 James Beard Nominee; Cheffy has worked in nearly every facet of the restaurant industry as well as 23 years on TV. Always around camp, Cheffy loves speaking with guests about nutrition and healthy eating. He believes the Phuket Fit Grill is an important tool in your arsenal, but how you use it is up to you.

What was your first job out of culinary school?

I got my first chef job two weeks out of school, as the executive chef at a large hotel. Catering, room service, a café, a regular restaurant and I had to feed 150 employees a day. I had like six different operations going on.

Were you there a long time?

Not long. It wasn’t fun; I only had Sunday nights off. So I started my own catering business, which was dinner party catering. My favorite thing in the world is a dinner party. There’s nothing better than a group of friends getting together at someone’s house. Playing music, drinking wine, eating food, and chatting; that, to me, is the best night in the world. I decided to cater to that, but I didn’t have a way to market it.

How did you solve that problem?

I noticed that local television stations had chefs on all the time and they got to promote their restaurants. So I called one of the television stations. They said no. “We don’t know who you are and you’re just a catering business.” So I said, “Well, just let me come cook for you.” I went and cooked for them, and they said, “OK. You can be on the show.” From there my catering business took off in a big way.

When was this?

It was 1989, the same day as my ten-year high school reunion. It was great going to the reunion after having just been on television. After that, I went to another television station and did the same thing. Then that station offered me a job on the Murphy In The Morning show. I eventually played a practical joke on the host of that show, and while he laughed it off, I was never on his show again. Yet, we are still friends.

Was that the only show you were on?

Eventually, I was on every network in the city.  In 1994, I had a show on the Tampa Bay CBS station and was nominated for a James Beard award. That’s the Academy Awards of the culinary world. In 1995, I hit gold when I was hired as the Body by Jake FIT TV chef. They show a lot of repeats on Discovery Channel and I still get emails from viewers.

James Beard Award? That’s a huge honor. Did that open doors for you?

After the James Beard nomination, I continued with TV, radio, newspapers columns and even started doing infomercials. I was working six days a week in Tampa on the radio and the head of Florida Citrus happened to be a listener. I was using my catering money for weekly food travel excursions like to New York, California and Europe. I used to tell the listeners “the station has sent me somewhere again” Luckily, Florida Citrus thought I was making much more than I actually was so they had to stack the deck to get me to be their next spokesperson.

What was your job with Florida Citrus?

They needed to sell fresh grapefruits, but didn’t have any great ideas how. I explained to them that if people didn’t love grapefruits, it was going to be tough to get them to buy them or cook with them. My idea was to pitch grapefruits to the public as a larger slightly sweet lemon. Anything you can use a lemon for is even better with a grapefruit. They loved the idea. That was the beginning of Cheffy Baby World Food Tours that lasted until 2010. After almost 2 million air miles, it was time to stop touring.

That made you their go-to grapefruit guy?

I was in charge of marketing grapefruits and I had lots of ideas. You can put it on fish instead of lemon, use it in pan-fried vegetables, or use it with chicken! I went with the grapefruits on a television tour across the country. It was like I was on a rock tour. It really took off, but then we hit a roadblock. Wal-Mart wouldn’t accept the promotion materials. They sent me to meet with a VP there, really one of the top guys, and I convinced Wal-Mart to accept it.

Sounds like you worked your magic. Where did you go from there?

After getting an in with the Wal-Mart people I decided to go after the biggest fish in retail. My goal, upon graduation from culinary school was to be a spokesperson. So I contacted Wal-Mart Merchandising VP and sold him on making me their in-store culinary television spokesperson. I was in front of ten million people a week and distributed over 25 million Cheffy Baby recipe cards annually. That gig was awesome.

How did you first hear about Phuket Fit?

I’d been living in Thailand for over ten years and decided to go back into the culinary underbelly and back to work.  Of course, everyone in Phuket knows that Phuket Fit is an industry leader, so it was a perfect choice.

How long have you been at Phuket Fit now?

A year and a half. I took a job at Phuket Fit because the opportunity to prepare luscious fitness food really excited me. It’s a careful balance. It has to be healthy, but you also have to have great flavor or people aren’t going to show up. Live well, train hard, and eat right.