Nikola Tosic blog

this morning, i reached my weight loss goal of going under 65 kg.

my morning weight was 64.7 kg.

it took me 147 days to loose 13.4 kg (91 gr / day) which is 17.2 % of my starting body weight.

i almost lost 1/5 of my body weight, which was just fat.

i have to say, it was hard.

i was going to bed starving for most of those 147 days.

weight loss is never easy, no matter how easy it seems from an observer perspective.

the mind struggle against hunger is quite hard.

but the results are awesome, i feel like i got a new better stronger body.

sometimes we need to be reminded someone else made something truly awesome.

raw data

i started weight loss on 4 july 2013.

weight on 4 july 2013 was 78.1 kg.

today my weight was 65.4 kg.

total weight loss is 12.7 kg.

i lost 16.3 % of my starting weight.

weight loss rate was 89 g / day.

i spent total of 165 h 35 min training.

i spent a total of 4.83 % of time to loose 16.3 % of weight.

blood pressure

recently i have been diagnosed with hypertension.

after few days of micardis 40 gr my blood pressure finally dropped below 130/90.

i have lowered intensity in my training, and focused more on technique.

i will soon do another test with the cardiologist to see if i can get back into intensity.

i thought that i lost ability to push, but today i did a 1 km in almost 40 kmh, so i am not worried about this.

i think i even improved by doing low intensity workouts.

the look

now i have “the look”.

six pack etc.

need to get the pecs bigger though :)

need to bech press 80-90 kg to get the pecks back in game.

glutes are there, thanks to mtb.

i still have the same stupid face.

gym can not improve that.

going downhill

i am a super afraid of heights, downhills, and jumping.

but thanks to my technique coach, jovana crnogorac, i managed to learn it.

now i can not get enough.

my rides are more easy on flat and up, and pumping a bit on down.

now, i am addicted to the rush.

i still did not crash, although lots of falls with my face in the mud.

in belgrade, weather is still hot and dry enough to ride mtb in light autumn clothing.

almost every lunch i ride my mtb in a local park.

rides are usually 90 mins.

the park has couple of nice downhills with a variety of jumps and lots of single track.

it is only 10 mins from my home and office – a luxury!

at first, the rides were a form of meditation and relaxation.

but now i got much more confident with downhill and jumps, so i discovered the adrenalin fix.

i am just a beginner, but i still manage 40+ kmh on a downhill and i can link 3-5 jumps.

first time i did this my legs were shaking for 5 mins.

i had a nice adrenalin fix.

now i do 2-3 of these downhill + jumps for a lunch break.

i can connect up to 4-5 mins of fast riding with lots of tech stuff.

for entire time of this i feeling the rush.

nice! love it!

i think i am getting addicted.

what is the most important thing in life?

what is that one thing you first need to have?

well..

most important thing in life is ability to solve problems.

because…

problem is an opportunity for improvement.

improvement is anything which is better.

better is both objective (faster) or subjective (tastier).

better is what we all want.

so…

if you know how to solve problems, than you are lucky.

life should be easier for you.

unfortunately, we are not thought general problem solving methods.

we are taught how to solve ultra mega specific problems, like math or driving.

but we are never taught how to approach any problem and be able to solve it.

and…

many get seriously frustrated because they can not solve problems.

and there is no one to help them.

but…

here are some tips:

first reaction to a problem is usually a negative emotional influence

if you try to solve a problem under this influence, it will be harder

to eliminate this influence, gather information about the problem and how others solved it

also…

divide the process in followings steps:

step 1) define the goal (what the actual desired solution of a problem is),

step 2) learn more about the problem and how others solved it (do not be afraid to ask),

step 3) design the solution (visualize it, draw it, or write it down),

step 4) implement the solution (just do it),

step 5) check if goal is reached, and if not start over.

rushing and skipping steps never leads to good.

hope this helps.

(thank you ivan for teaching me how to solve problems better!)