Weight and Fitness update!

I am still an amature on the blog scene so when I do not blog for a while just stay with me it will get better. Ok so my goal is to eventually get into the NT Police, with that I need to be in the healthy weight range but also get my core fitness up to a level where I will give the recruitment staff no choice but to take notice.

Unfortunately I am still in the 'overweight category' which sucks but I am getting there. I can't beleive I am going to do this but I am about to post some before and after photo's.

Ok on the left was me earlier this year, and mind you not even at my biggest. At this stage I weighed in at about 96kg. In my last attempt to get into the police I weighed in at 97kg. The heaviest I got to was 98.8kg that was just after we returned from Tassie in August. On the right was me the weekend just gone weighing in at 86.9kg.   

I am going to the gym at 6am most mornings try to get there at least 3-4 times a week and also the rugby 7's training twice a week to look after my cardio. The plan at the moment is to try and shed another 4-5kg by January 22. I have chosen this date because this is my first milestone, that weekend I will be playing (with my brothers) in the Hottest 7's in the world tournament which is held here in Darwin every year. This tournament has become a very popular international tournament because of the $65000 prize money involed in it. This is going to be a real test as the opposition are real quality alot of the guys playing have represented their country from time to time in tournaments such as the Commonwealth Games and World Cup events not to mention the IRB sevens competition.....pure class. If I can get through this then I will have proven to myself that I am a real chance to get into the police. Then milestone 2 is that I will be going for my Bronze Medallion in February, and milestone 3 will be my police recruitment testing in June. Hopefully the end result goes my way. Between now and then it is going to be hard don't get me wrong, right now a have hit a little hill where I am always exhausted not so much sleepy but my body just needs to recharge a little. Maybe Christmas has come at a good time for a little break....maybe! Talking about sleepy and recharging it is time to go to bed me thinks.

Rugby and Stuff!

The weekend just gone we had our Corporate Rugby Sevens comp Grand Final. Even though we finished the seven week comp in second place we still had to qualify to play in the big game against the team who finished in third spot. The team we had to play first was named Defcredit, and you guessed it full of Army boys. They had good things going for them and some not so good. They were super fit and they had enough players to field two teams but they were not the most skillful bunch of guys.

My younger brother Josh and teammate George takling a Defcredit lad.

We had a little scare in the beginning of the game and after the first half we were only one try in front. Second half started and we went up a level and they had no chance. This was a very physical game and we all felt a lot better when it was over.

That win had put us into the decider against Hot 100 who had gone through the season undefeated and the only team who had beaten us during the season.

Ready for the start of play the first photo of all three Phillips brothers on the same Rugby park. Josh closest, Zac forth down and me at the far end.

This Hot 100 team have been the favourites to take this comp out from the very first day, something we wanted to make sure did not happen. The first half of play there was a lot of physical play with flashes of speed and skill. We played hard and at half time we were all locked up. When the second half began it was like there was no half time break we started where we left off. Our biggest plus was our defence, they had the highest try scorer on their side and through the whole game he touched the ball twice. Our defence made them get frustrated and they started to give away a few penalties.

We are being awarded a penalty.

Our boys held strong and started to put some points on the board. So the unbeatable team was beaten by us in the final. What a great feeling and to do it with my two younger brothers was pretty special. I also had my wife and kids there to share the moment as well. For someone who has never played any form of Rugby Union and to finish the comp as the second highest try scorer I thought was pretty cool....10 tries. So this Rugby tournament has finished and this week training starts for the next one in mid January The Hottest Sevens played here in Darwin. This comp has a total prize pool of $65,000 so this is now a fairly major tournament on the international calander. So my fitness will continue through into the new year. Bring it on!

I should give a little weight update while I am here also, I am now sitting at 87.4kg lowest point so far. Currently feel like I have hit a little peak that I just need to push thru to start losing even more but why stop now, I have lost over 10kg since I began my fitness program. I will be updating more regularly so talk to you soon.

My Grandfather!

So I have gathered the motivation to jump on line and post something. So it has been two weeks since my Grandfathers funeral and I think it has knocked me around a little more than I would like to admit. In the lead up to his funeral all I could think about was if the town would actually give a shit about him concidering what Katherine is like at the moment. Lets just say it is a long way from the town that I grew up in.
When we arrived at the church the first thing I noticed was the cars parked all over the place. Then I walked in to the church and there were people everywhere I knew almost all of them and some a didn't. It was an interesting feeling that I had at that time, a mixture of relief and pride. The service was good there was some good stories told. Seen that when My grandfather arrived in Katherine the population was 400 we had a bit of Katherine's history mixed with my grandfathers.
When the service had finished we proceeded to the cemetery in a large convoy. It was at this time it hit me, I noticed that the police had blocked off the entire town. They were blocking vehicles from turning down the Victoria Highway from the Stuart Highway and then cleared the way through the town all the way to the cemetery. I started sobbing! I knew my grandfather meant something to this town and it was just received my proof.
When we arrived at the cemetery my brothers, younger cousins and I carried grandpa to his eventual resting place. When we put him down I looked up and saw a mound of soil with eight shovels stuck in it, then it hit me we will be burying grandpa. All the men of the family started shoveling, as we were filling the hole we were joking that he was looking down saying to God that he has finally made the lot of us do some physical work. When my family and I got back to the hotel where we were staying I started to notice the blisters on both hands and I thanked Grandpa for his last gift to me!

Back in action

Sorry I have been neglecting my blog probably too many other things happening at the moment. If anyone has been following my get fit quest I have broken the 90kg mark and now stand at 89.6kg. First time in the past 5-6 years since I was under 90kg.

I have been playing Rugby sevens over the last three weeks and I seem to be going alright. I have played 6 games and so far have six tries to show for my efforts. Considering this is my first crack at any form of Rugby Union I think that counts as a pass. It is fun playing on the same team as my two younger brothers a sense of pride to watch the two play and brotherly rivalry considering I have racked up more points than they have.

I was going to put some photos and talk about a whole bunch of stuff but the body has decided it is bed time so I shall do that tomorrow. 

Pull the finger out!

Time for me to really pull my finger out. You know when you do something and you know you are doing it well but no where near what you know you can do it. That is how I feel right now. My weight today dropped but only by 200g. Yes it went down and I exercised almost everyday last week but within myself I know that I am finishing each session whether it is at the gym or at rugby training with a little more left in the tank and in some cases a lot. My eating is good so I know that that is not the reason for not loosing as much as I thought I would. I am sick and tired of hearing people complain like I am right now about not getting fit or not losing weight and making it sound like it is not their fault but everything and everyone around them. When you are trying to acheive something like this the only person that you should blame is yourself. An example of what I am talking about is that at rugby this week I keep up with the boys but at the end when we are meant to finish off with 4 lots of 200m sprints I have been doing the first then make it look like I have pinched a muscle or something then it remarkably fixes itself and I am able to do the last sprint....LAZY....this is what I am talking about those extra sprints will make a difference and it is me that has been choosing to do this. But no more! my finger has been well and truly removed and I now have no one else to blame but myself.

My weight today was 94.4kg so like I said down but not enough for the standard I have now set myself.

"If you are going to do something, you might as well do it well"

A bit of background!

Ok I have decided that now is the time to give you a bit of a background story about myself. I was born in a small town in Northern Territory, Australia called Katherine. In the year 2000 my family and I moved to the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin. I think it was so I could complete my senior schooling at a better school. That was going ok, not that I was a star student but my grades were ok. Then in the middle of year 12 my grandfather on my mums side passed away and it hit me pretty hard. Not that anyone knew that, they all thought that I was being strong. At the funeral I had two of my cousins crying on my shoulders but I did not shed a tear. I am one of those people who don't show their emotions that often especially grief, and at this time I was in Adelaide with my mum and younger brothers and I was expected to be the pillar of strength for everyone. As a result of this mid year event all my schooling went out the door and I finished the year with N/A on my certificate. Two days out of year 12 I was in full time work, and have never been out of work. Even though I have done many things like - sales rep, storeman, truck driver, hotel manager, sports development officer, sports administrator, cleaner, cinema manager, footwear manager at a sports store, aged care worker, garden maintenance and currently a support coordinator. See why I want a career in the police! From 2002 to 2004 my life revolved around rugby league and alcohol. Towards the end of 2004 I was approached by someone from one of the NRL clubs to say that they were goinig to watch me over the next year, but in October of 2004 my drinking took over and I had a car accident where I nearly killed myself. Not recommended people!
The next year was a bit of a struggle with doctor and dentist appointments plus pain it was a new threshhold on my pain barrier. I struggle of course until I met up with Danielle in late 2005 my now wife. Danielle changed everything for me, I now had someone around that believed that I could do what ever I wanted to (with a little work) and that was huge for me. After a few false starts I now know what I want and wont stop until I get there.
Now for my top three moments of my life.

1. My wedding day was beautiful and that was just from the glow off Danielle throw in a stunning sunset, great guests and a reception dinner to die for and I think it was perfect.

2. The birth of my first son Tennyson.

3. And of course the birth of my second son Naythan.

So that is me in a nutshell so it is time to look forward and achieve all of my future goals. by the way I loss some more weight I am now 94.6kg, as my son would say down, down, down,down,down.

Today is Sunday isn't it?

Yes Yes I did say that I will post on Sunday's but I am a bloke so Sunday can also mean later in the week. Anyway straight to it my weight as of Sunday was 95.5kg which is a loss of  .8kg. A loss is good but stil not happy with that. Lets set the bar at 1.5kg loss this week lets see how I go. I started Rugby Union sevens training with my brothers Zac and Josh, not sure if I will have a run but will see later on. I am what you call a Rugby League die hard I have almost all the history you can get in books and DVD's, so union??? Hmmmm I suppose it will get me fit.

My brothers Josh on the left and Zac on the Right with my son Tennyson after their Grand Final win this year.



Also on Monday a called the police to find out when their next recruitment was and the guy I was talking to said maybe May next year, then he added but there is a possibility it could be in October! I almost fell off my chair. At least if it is October I should be pretty fit with a full season of rugby under my belt (probably still league) anyway on that bombshell, I shall take my leave. I think this quote is fitting:

'Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings'

Just a thought!

Those who are quick to criticise our generation, forget who raised us.

So it Begins!

I have decided to attempt to gain entry into the Northern Territory Police Force....again. This will actually be my fourth application but things are alittle different this time around. In my previous attempts I have passed all that they put in front of me, which of course is frustrating when they say try again next time. I went into the testing with not much training or physical conditioning. In the physical testing you need to gain a mark of 50 out of 100. The last time I took the phyical was in January this year where I recieved a 70 out of 100, which is a pass and was my best score yet but still not enough. This time around I am aiming to achieve 90+ to give them no doubt but to sign me up.

My strength training is going well as I am already lift what I was when I applied earlier this year. It is my running endurance that needs the boot up the rear end, as the multi stage fitness test (beep test) has the largest allocation of points at 40 the best I have achieved previously is 20 and for every level you go up the points increase by 5. I have set up the beep test in our back yard and have a copy on my ipod, so I don't disturb the neighbours. My latest attempt was 6.0 which is 3 points off my best at 9.2 which I achieved midway through a Rugby season. By the time testing comes around I want to be at 10 (at least) but that is my goal anyway.

They check your BMI as well to make sure you are reasonably healthy too. Currently I am 96.3kg @ 177cm which puts my BMI @ about 30.83 so I am officially OBESE so enough on that but I will keep you informed to my progress on that front. The next intake is about to close this Friday, but due to when I tried out last time I have to wait til January 18 to apply again so this will be a long haul but one I hope will be worth it.

I will update as to my progress every Sunday so here we go, wish me luck!

Here we go!

Not sure why I have decided to do this yet but as I go a pattern or theme may start to show, or witness the mindless rambling of a Territory bloke.

Now the introduction, my name is Luke Phillips and I was born in a small town called Katherine in Northern Territory, Australia. I am married and have two kids. My wife's name is Danielle and we have been married for just over a year but have been together for 5 years this October. My boy's names are Tennyson (3yrs)and Naythan (4mnths).

                                                       Insert Danielle and the boys here!

Ok well I am not one to be on the computer for long periods so I will leave you with this qoute:

"Many say I am just one to try. I say I am one less to quit. – Diego Marchi"