19th August Part 2

Erm.... yeah, alright then :-/


So, I went to the gym tonight and got my initial weigh in. It's not pretty.

27st 2lbs

Thats 172.5kg, or 380lbs.

This is officially the heaviest I've ever been. Seriously, I've never been this big before in my life. I'm actually disgusted at myself.

The gym session didn't go well either. My fitness has dropped so much I could barely manage half an hour of light cardio. I'm such a mess right now.

However, onwards an upwards. There's only so long I can sit mithering at myself for letting myself go so badly, especially considering how hard I worked in June.

So this is the way I'm looking at it; I managed to go to the gym tonight when I could have easily stayed home, I've been tracking my food and come well under my daily allowance and I'm back at the start of a hard process.

I know it won't take long to start losing weight again, so I'm not allowing myself to be demoralised by this.

I'm going to try. I have to try. I don't want to be this size forever.

Till next time

July 15th 2013

Climbing back on a speeding wagon

So, after a couple of weeks off the diet and generally eating and drinking whatever I like, I'm starting another 4 week stretch of the diet.

To recap, in the last month I managed to lose a stone in total through 2 weeks of extreme diet and exercise and then 2 weeks of just taking it easy. I like the idea of the shorter goals as they're much more satisfying to achieve.

So as of today I'm back on it. I managed to fast again from last night to lunchtime today and I'm currently sat outside enjoying the sun. It's far too warm for any walking right now, I'm just enjoying the sun without working up too much of a sweat.

I'm not visiting the gym tonight because I'm utterly exhausted and frankly, I have too much to do tonight, so I'll be going tomorrow and I'll weigh myself then. I know I've put some of that stone back on, I can feel it in myself and in my clothes, but I'm not worried overall.

My goal for this month (taking me to the middle of August) is to lose another stone. I'm wanting to have load about 4 and a half stone by Christmas so a stone a month between now and December, allowing for some slightly missed targets is something I feel is perfectly achievable.

But the focus is 14lbs in the next four weeks. I managed that much in two weeks last month, so I'm confident that I can manage it.

I'll update tomorrow when I've weighed myself

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...

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 14th 2013

Well, that was frustrating.

So my treat day was a mixed bag. On the one hand, the bolognese was amazing. I've been missing pasta and rice while I've been doing this diet, so it was a perfect treat for me. However, when I got to the gym last night, I suddenly realised that I may have been overdoing the exercise this last fortnight.

I started on the cross trainer, like I normally do, but my legs were like lead. Seriously, after 2 minutes I was sweating like I'd done 30, I had no energy and I was really struggling. I pushed on to 10 minutes worth but I was pretty much dying on my feet at that point. I managed to get some weights done after that so the trip to the gym wasn't entirely a wasted effort, but I just felt ghastly.

This morning it took every ounce of self determination just to get out of bed. I think I'm well and truly exhausted now, as in, exhausted to the bone. I've decided today I'm having a day off from exercise.  I need to give my muscles a chance to repair themselves and get their strength back, otherwise I'll never be able to work out.

I'm also going to fuel myself today, so I'll be having sweet potatoes with my dinner and I've bought some nuts into work with me to keep myself going.

It is really frustrating because I know how little time I have left this month to make a difference for the target event, have a day off from exercise feels like a waste to me. I'd rather not have a day off, but I realise that my body is telling me it needs to rest.

Bah. Stupid body.

June 13th 2013

Me - "You there! Boy in the street! What day is today?"
Boy - "Me? guv'nor?"
Me - "Yes you! What day is today?"
Boy - "Why it's the tenf day of your diet guv"

Yes, butchering A Christmas Carol to the point that Charles Dickens is positively drilling for crude oil due to the speed his coffin is spinning indicates that I've made it through the first 10 days of this monumental effort to lose weight and I get to have my first cheat day!

Oh, precious carbohydrates, come to me, fuel me!

As you can guess, I've been looking forward to this. Mostly because tonight I get to indulge myself after a week and a half of carb abstinence. Given how tight time scales are, I'm not going to go ballistic as some people do, but I'm going to treat myself to a big plate of Pasta Bolognese to reward myself for being as strong as I have been.

However...

The exercise must continue so with a full belly I will be hitting the gym again tonight, so the treats will be short lived, but well enjoyed.

I'm still stiff as a board from Tuesday's foray into P90X, so I'm glad I've decided to leave trying that again until Friday because I think at this point I'm just far to broken to even consider it. The gym tonight will be a mix of cardio and resistance, with focus on my back and arms. I've done plenty of work on my legs in the past week or so, but seeing as they increased in size by an inch I think I could do with laying off them and toning my upper body. Expect me to be more broken tomorrow.

I'm maintaining a high rate of activity this week and I'm trying to stay on the wagon. It's not helping that it appears to be biscuit and sweets week at work as I'm constantly receiving group emails saying some tasty treat has been left on a desk for everyone to share. So far though i haven't cracked and I haven't inflicted wrath upon anyone, so I think I'm doing well.

That said, I'm practically salivating at the chance to have some pasta tonight...

June 11th 2013

Today was a day spent in pain.

Mostly because I overdid it at the gym last night. For the first time in a long time I used that machine which simulates climbing stairs. Boy was that a mistake. It had my legs, backside and back in agony all day.

But, I'm not going to complain as I'm still on a high because of my weightloss so far.

Today at work I managed about 4 miles worth of walks without the pain that came last time I did such a lot of walking. I would have managed more, but I was very conscious about how far I'm walking at work, I don't want to be away from the office for too long, lest I get in trouble.

Food wise, I haven't really deviated from my normal chicken, pepperoni, ham, egg and spinach lunch box. It's still nice, I still love it, it's still all protein and hardly any carbs which suits me down to the ground. For dinner tonight, it was chilli con carne, with broccoli and slim green beans on the side. Again, high in protein but still very low in carbs. And bloody delicious to boot. Yum.

I'm actually going to write up the recipe for my chilli con carne at some point this week, I think you guys will really enjoy it. It's cheap, simple to make, makes about 4 portions and is easily freezable for months after cooking. It's fantastic.

Tonight I was planning on going to the gym, however, after nearly 2 hours pissing about trying to update my phone, failing and then having roll it back, it now seems a bit late to be going to the gym. I reckon I might try P90X for the first time tonight and see if it works for me.

If you don't hear from me in 24 hours, assume it's killed me.

June 6th 2013

Boom, boom, BOOM!

I've been feeling great today. A bit more energy and a bit happier. I've still been hungry enough to want to chew my own arm off, but that's to be expected, I'm a big guy who is hardly eating, you do the math.

Today at work I only managed one walk out. This was because I've been incredibly busy being awesome so there was no time for exercise. I didn't actually mind this because it was gym night tonight, so I was going to make up for it.

Tonight's dinner consisted of a rather fabulous chicken stir fry. Lots of protein, lots of vitamins, hardly any carbs. Mint. In fact, despite my allowance of 100g of carbs a day, so far this week I've averaged less than 20g a day. Double mint.

Now when I got to the gym (remember, I like to gym in the evening when it's quiet), I decided that I would have a resistance day to try and balance out the masses of cardio work I've been doing. So I kicked off with 10 mins of cross trainer and set about the weights. 

How much strength have I lost in the last year? Turns out, a lot. Especially in my arms. When I was going to the gym in 2011 I was able to push about 70kg on the chest press, today I was struggling with half of that. 

Most people would be discouraged by a revelation like that, but I'm trying to remain positive in the face of adversity and I've set myself a little challenge. You see, I've never, in my 27 years, never once done a proper, full press up. I've done modified press ups where you arch your back slightly and pivot from your knees instead of your toes, but I've never had the upper body or core strength to do them properly.

So my challenge to myself is to do 10 press ups by September. Can't be that hard, can it?

Anyway, I digress. I'm starting to feel like this diet and exercise régime is beginning to work. I'm over the intense tiredness and I'm feeling good again. The post gym buzz is even better than it was the other day.

In total at the gym I managed a half an hour of solid cardio instead of the 20 mins I managed on Monday. Win.

I'm going back to the gym tomorrow night too but the hard bit comes after that... The weekend! The part of the week where I've always given myself a cheat or treat day. I have to be so strict this month, I can't afford any slips. It will be torture...

June 3rd, 2013 part two

Hi again

So, as I promised, I have some more details for you all. I weighed myself at the gym and I've had myself measured. It's slightly grim reading but we all start somewhere:

Weight: 26.7 stone

Chest: 54"

Waist: 64"

Bicep: 13"

Thigh: 30"

So what we can glean from that is that yes, I'm a fat bastard.

Self deprecation aside, this means I'm exactly back to my heaviest weight when I started in 2011. This is annoying on several levels. Firstly, it means all the hard work I put in during 2011 has been wasted and secondly, I appear to have put all of that weight back on my stomach. Bastard body.

Anyway, I visited the gym for the first time in ages and managed to have a nice workout. 10 minutes on the exercise bike, 20 mins of resistance then 10 minutes on the cross trainer. Not bad considering my fitness is back to 0. And that I've already walked 2 miles today too.

Diet wise, I had a large, carb loaded dinner tonight. It's going to be my last carb heavy meal for 10 days, I enjoyed it.

Last of all for today, here is my weekly picture. I'll post one every Monday so you can get a visual idea of how I'm doing. If anyone notices any change before I do, please let me know.

Night all

Michael