20th January 2014 - Two weeks in

Why oh why does January take so long to sort itself out and bugger off?

I mean seriously, this month is bloody long.

It feels longer because I'm dieting too. Every day, watching my calories and (especially at work) watching other people eat what they want when they want is getting annoying.

However, it's not all bad. I'm no longer so tired on the walk to and from the office every morning. It's an inconvenience I'd rather not have, but it's largely a positive one because it's forcing me to walk a couple of miles every day. The inconvenience I still can't stomach is the distance from my desk to the tea room at the office I'm working from now, but I'm sure I'll learn to live with it (or crack up and melt down in a caffeine deficient moment).

The diet itself is going alright. I've cheated a couple of times but I'm still making more sensible choices. For instance, where if I was really being lazy and wanted a takeaway, I'd order a whacking great big pizza, now I'm ordering chicken kebabs, which are better for you. They're still not great for you, but it's better than all that bread and cheese. On the one occasion in the last fortnight where I did get a pizza, it made me so ill (from the grease, I'm assuming), that I have no desire to have another one any time soon.

The food I'm making on a nighttime is getting better too. A particular favourite that I'm enjoying is Gammon steaks, sweetcorn, new potatoes, pineapple and dry fried eggs. It's so very simple, but so delicious and filling. The main one I'm enjoying is my home made bhuna curry. Adapted from the recipe I used to make a fish curry for a party before new years, I've made it a couple of times now and with chicken it's just amazing. Very filling, very tasty and great for these cold nights.

This morning, I weighed myself for the second time. I didn't weigh myself on the first week of the diet for reasons that I can't quite remember, so last week was the starting weight for this bout of dieting.

This week has me dropping 5lbs which I'm over the moon at as I wasn't confident I'd lost any weight at all this week. More impressively as well, my wife, who has always struggled with diets, has lost too. So we're in it together and losing together. This has made me very happy indeed.

For this coming week, I'm going to be starting my exercise regime up again, starting with a run tonight. It's been about 6 weeks since i was running properly so if I'm honest, I'll be amazed if I can manage more than a mile and a half, but we all have to start somewhere. Hopefully I can be back up to 3 mile runs in a few weeks.

July 1st, 2013 part 2

Wasting time is a waste of petrol. And dinner.

So this is it. The weigh day at the end of the month.

Given how badly I've been eating over the last fortnight and my lack of exercise, I was prepared for the worst. So I step on the scales and:

25st 12lbs

That means in two weeks I've not lost anything. In better news, it means I've not gained anything either. I know, I'm as surprised as you are.

That means in a month I've lost a flat stone. It's not as much as I wanted to lose, however, I'm not going to argue considering I only actually tried for half of that time.

I'm counting it as a win.

In other news, I don't think I'm over the sickness bug I had last week. When I was at the gym, I was halfway into my warmup when I had to stop. I was dizzy, nauseous and didn't feel grand. When I stopped the machine, I took a swig of water then immediately had to run to the toilets and throw up. I felt fine before I went on the machines, so I don't know what triggered that off.

Suffice it to say I'm a little disappointed and feeling rough.

I was planning on doing P90X tomorrow night but it looks like I'll have to put that on hold for now.

This week is the work event I have been building up to and it is the North East Chilli Fest so I won't be dieting or exercising for the rest of this week. Given how I'm feeling, I'm not going to go crazy and binge on junk food, I'm still going to eat sensibly, but I'm not going to be as fastidious as I have been about eating.

Next Monday I'll be setting myself another 4 week target to see if I can drop some more pounds.

In retrospect, maybe I should have weighed myself after throwing up... I might have weighed less...

July 1st 2013

Hello... is there anyone still there?

Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated, though rumours that I've fallen off the wagon are pretty much spot on.

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks due to a tumultuous time in my personal life (before you start, don't ask, I wont tell). Because of these issues, I haven't been exercising like I have before and I have been eating more out of necessity than of desire, so I've been eating crap.

Not literally of course, but I haven't been eating with a diet in mind. I've just been eating what I can find when I can find it.

I've also had a bout of what can be described as either food poisoning or stomach flu. Either way, I spent most of last week off work, within sprinting distance of a toilet. Bad times.

I'm posting again today because, of course, today is the final day of this first month. Yes, this is the last weigh day before my work event so I can see how much I've (hopefully) lost in total.

As of the last time weigh day came around (two weeks ago), I had lost almost a stone in weight. I don't think I will have lost much more than that if I'm honest, but I'm hopeful that I haven't put any back on.

I will be heading to the gym tonight for the first time in a fortnight to weigh myself and get back into some form of exercising ahead of the work event on thursday which will be a chance for me to really blow out and have a good eat and drink with some colleagues.

I'll post my latest statistics up tonight, fingers crossed everything is still reducing.

June 17th part 2

Yes, we're here again, another Monday, another moment, another moan and another weigh in.

Lets get straight down to business. My measurements are:

Weight: 25st 12lbs

Chest: 50"

Stomach: 60"

Biceps: 13.5"

Thigh: 31"

So in two weeks I've lost a mammoth 13lbs! That's 1lb shy of a full stone lost. Immense! I've never lost weight like this. I suppose I've never worked this intensely or strictly either, but hey, I'm over the moon. I need to work harder this week to lose 8lbs to keep me on track for my unofficial 2 stone in 30 days target (I don't actually have a target for this first month, just to lose as much as I physically can) but I'm not dwelling on that right now.

On the inches, it's a definite torso reduction which I'm happy about, however, it's not coming off as quickly as I was hoping. My body appears to want to trim fat from other areas first before it starts majorly eating away at the enormous deposit around my midsection. Stupid body.

My biceps and thighs are becoming more muscular, hence why they're not reducing. I'm already starting to see the difference in my biceps as the definition is starting to come in and I can feel the muscle is more solid even when I'm not tensing it.

Now, for the weekly picture. As usual, avert the gaze of small children as it may scar them for life. You've been warned:

Scanning between this weeks picture and last week's, I'm starting to notice differences. I can definitely see that it's coming off my face. I can see my jawline returning and the bit below my chin tightening up a bit. My stomach is continuing to raise as well. This is why I think I'm not losing any inches off my belly, I think fat is going, but as the shape changes it's artificially keeping the circumference the same.

What you can't see in that picture is that I'm also beginning to notice definition around my collar bone and in my neck. My calves are also becoming more defined as I continue to walk and gym. I'm in that wonderful phase where I'm starting to notice the changes every day. 

Today I even had my first clothing victory. My work trousers got ripped in the washing machine last night (God knows how) and were in no fit state to be repaired. As an interim measure, my wife suggested I try an older pair which I had all but abandoned as they no longer fit me. So I tried them on and lo and behold, they fit me. A touch on the snug side but they still fit me. I'm counting it in my book.

There's nothing greater when you're on a diet than being able to get into a garment that you've not worn in years because it was too small. I remember when it happened to me last, it was amazing.

I have several target clothes of varying sizes that I can't wait to get back into. They are (in no particular order):

- My leather jacket

- my good suit

- a black Basick Records T-shirt

- a pair of shorts that irritate my wife no end

- an old Newcastle United replica kit top from the 2004/2005 season (I think? It's the one with Northern Rock written in blue)

- a pair of jeans that I've had for about 8 years that still have the tags on and have never once fit me

- two going out shirts, both black

They're all different sizes so I'll hit different garments as I go an post pictures as I fit into each one.

I've blathered on enough for one night, so I'll wrap this up. Overall, I'm pleased with my progress so far. Hopefully I can maintain weight loss, even if its not at this level. Any weight loss is good weight loss

June 17th 2013

Wait... is it Monday again? Who said it could be Monday again?

I seem to be getting out of the habit of blogging at the weekend. I should rectify that..

Anyway, this weekend was a quiet one for me. Given how much pressure I put on my body last week and the effect it had on me when working out on Thursday, I decided to rest over the weekend and let my body recover. I did manage to do a couple of miles of walking on Saturday morning, but over all, I kept the weekend relatively quiet.

On the food front, I stayed relatively on course with the diet. On Saturday we attended a friend's birthday barbecue (or Braai, for the South Africans in attendance) where I pretty much gorged on meat. Just meat though. Lots of chicken wings, sausage, burgers, all cleanly cooked and all carb free. Nothing more manly than a dinner consisting of meat, meat and more meat. I had a couple of burger buns but definitely had less than my 100g of carbs across the day.

Sunday, I was a touch more relaxed, in that for dinner I had fishcakes and potatoes, which was comparatively heavy on the carbs, but it was all good clean food, so I don't feel guilty about it.

Over the weekend, I also discovered something amazing. I've been struggling a bit with hunger on this diet and I do feel myself wanting to snack during the days at work, especially when people around me are munching their way through the day. So a friend recommended I try making spinach crisps. They give you the crunch and the flavour you crave, but they're positively good for you. They're also a doddle to make. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
A couple of handfuls of baby leaf spinach
1 tablespoon of oil (olive, sunflower, or vegetable)
Salt
Pepper
Whatever flavouring you want

Put the spinach in a bowl and pour the oil on top. You only need a tablespoon of it, a little oil goes a long way.  Sprinkle the salt, pepper and your chosen flavouring on top (in this case, I'm using chilli flakes) and get your hands in, rolling the spinach and flavouring around in the oil until every leaf is covered.

Pre-heat an oven to 125 degrees centigrade. Place non-stick baking parchment or non-stick foil onto a baking tray. Lay out the leaves individually, making sure they don't overlap. Place the tray in the oven and bake.

Check the leaves after 10 minutes. Some leaves will cook faster than others. You want them to dry out and the oil to dissipate. It took about half an hour of mine to be ready in total. If you want, you can turn some of the bigger leaves over halfway through.

Once they're cooked, take the tray out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Once they're cool, serve and enjoy.

They're so good and very moreish. Give it a try, I really like them.

Onto this week and the pressure is back on. This weekend will the point I get measured for the suit for the work event so I need to keep the intensity up across the week to try and lose as many inches as I can. Today is weigh day so later on today I'll know how much work I need to put in to try and maximise what I can for the week.

Expect my stats and another picture this evening. For now though, go and try the spinach crisps.