I’ve had some questions on Twitter about my weight loss so here’s the deal.

In December 2010, I weighed 95kg (209.4lbs) with bodyfat at 30%. At 5 ft 8ins tall that’s not a pretty sight, let me tell you, but it sure was fun and remarkably easy getting there! Today in late-February, my weight stands at 79kg with bodyfat at 20%. I’m just under half way to my goal of 8% bodyfat.

Don’t expect pictures just yet – the “before” is truly hideous, and I’m not quite ready for the “after” shots. My pectorals have a covering of fat and still look like man-boobs. Maybe once I reach my goal, I’ll post them. Anyway…

My diet

My diet plan is rigid. This makes it easy to plan, easy to buy and easy to cook, but truly dull (I never said anything about it being fun). Disclaimer – I am not paid by Maximuscle or anyone else, and do not endorse any products. Any products or supplements I use are due to personal preference (mainly on taste and convenience).

• 07:00 am – 1 pint water, A-Z multivitamin tablet, 1 Maximuscle Thermobol capsule
• 07:30 am Breakfast – 1 cup of porridge with 1 scoop of Maximuscle Promax (20g protein), mixed with water, cup of tea with skimmed milk
• 10:00 am Snack – 1 scoop of Maximuscle Promax (20g protein) mixed with water
• 12:00 pm Training – 1.5 pints water, 1 Maximuscle Thermobol capsule
• 13:15 pm post training – 1 scoop of Maximuscle Promax (20g protein) mixed with water
• 14:30 pm Lunch – 1 cup brown rice, 1 plain chicken breast, broccoli (25g protein)
• 17:00 pm Afternoon snack – Maximuscle Promax meal replacement bar (20g protein), 1 Maximuscle Thermobol capsule
• 19:30 pm Dinner – 2 lean, plain turkey breasts, 1 cup mixed veg or salad (50g protein)
• 21:00 pm Snack – 1 scoop of Maximuscle Promax (20g protein) mixed with water
• at least 3 litres of iced water throughout the day

That’s 175g of protein (just over the recommended 1.5g-2g of protein per kg of body weight) and yes it has side effects that make me less popular with colleagues and friends, especially those with a keen sense of smell!

It aint fun, and the supplements can be expensive, but it works when combined with proper training. I know because I’ve done it before.

Got any questions or similar success stories? Post ‘em below.

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As part of UBM’s Community Management 101 course, this post is a response to the Andrew McAfee’s blog post: Do’s and Don’ts for Your Work’s Social Platforms.

As the title suggests, McAfee offers a list of Do’s and Dont’s for engaging with social platforms at work, which is a fairly solid set of basic rules to follow. As other course participants have noted, there are many grey areas that aren’t covered, but its a very good starter for 10.

I found it hard to disagree with any of his points so instead have chosen to expand on them and add my own views on each.

The Do’s

Narrate your work: Self-reflection is a critical skill, and practising it in a semi-public forum can force a level of clarity of thought/focus that might not otherwise occur. After all, if you know others might read it, you’ll be more conscious of at least trying to make sense! Social tools allow your colleagues to add another perspective to this activity, adding value and providing more insights.

Point to others’ work: pointing to other people’s work both internally and externally helps people discover new information they might otherwise have missed, and can help increase your reputation as someone who has their finger on the pulse of a particular subject area. This might lead others to follow your updates in the hope that you might uncover some other gems, thus increasing your reach/influence if you ever need it.

Comment and discuss: This is a very easy and quick way to add value to a conversation and there are plenty of options: thanking the original poster for sharing their insights, empathising with people’s issues, or even answering questions.

Ask/answer questions: The key here is to give back to the community by answering the questions of others. It is up to all of us to foster a spirit of collaboration, so that people are more likely to answer our own questions when they arise.

Vote/give kudos: As well as showing who/where the experts are, its a nice way to thank people for taking the effort and time to share. Show your appreciation and encourage repeat behaviour – we all like a bit of recognition!

Talk about social stuff: This is a great idea, just be careful.

The Don’ts

There’s not much I can add here to add to the “don’ts” that McAfee listed. I find that a good general sense check is to ask yourself whether you would behave that way in front of a random selection of your colleagues (which is effectively what you are doing). The main thing I would add, is not to take too much without giving back.

My Takeaways

For me, the key thing to remember is that the wiki is a work tool, and that almost everything you add to it will be visible to all of your colleagues, including (UBM CEO) David Levin! We are all in this together, striving for a common goal, and we are all responsible for making the wiki a place where people feel comfortable in discussing various issues amongst themselves, collaborating and solving problems together, and sometimes having fun discussing which movie franchise had the best sequels.

What do you think?

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Some really good advice for aspiring digital marketers:

http://mashable.com/2010/10/02/digital-marketers-job-tips/

Sent from my iPhone

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For those of you interested in Social Media, Jeremy Owyang has produced a great post about the range of vendors emerging within the space. The social software space has ballooned into a disparate set of technologies, data types, and over 1000 vendors confusing buyers. Despite the explosion of innovation, expect a ‘Social Business Suite’ to appear that consolidate many of these features for enterprise buyers:

http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2010/10/03/the-stack-the-social-business-software-suite-q4-2010

Sent from my iPhone

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I passed the Google Analytics Individual Qualification today. The qualification shows thorough understanding of using Google Analytics, especially of the set up and configuration of the software, and alterations to JavaScript tags. Amongst the topics covered were:

• Managing accounts and profiles
• Standard metrics and dimensions
• Adwords integration and reporting
• Goals and funnels
• Filters
• Ecommerce tracking and revenue metrics
• Regular Expressions
• Domains and Subdomains
• Event tracking and virtual page views
• Custom reporting and advanced segmentation

My Google Analytics Qualification Certificate

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THIS IS A COMPETITION ENTRY

Ok, so it looks like every man and his dog is in on the act.

Following my recent post about Kieran’s competition, it seems like everyone in the online marketing blog is offering a competition. Most of them revolve around the principle of “you write a review of my site and link to me, and i’ll link to you plus you might win prizes.”

This is a great idea, so I’m joining in again Read the rest of this entry »

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THIS IS A COMPETITION ENTRY

Its pretty hard to find a decent Affiliate Marketing Blog in the UK. In fact as Kieron has previously pointed out on his blog at www.here.org.uk, its pretty hard to find them full-stop (or ‘period’ for our cousins across the pond). In my travels across the wastelands of cyberspace, I managed to stumble across Kieron’s blog, and boy am I glad I did! Read the rest of this entry »

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