October 23, 2004
Could Have Been Better...
...but considering the week I've had (see blog)I'm quite happy with 14st 11! It's down, and that is what counts - and this is despite one of mum's McDonalds-style salads and eating on Thursday due to depression! I certainly look better - and the big thing is that I can now comfortably go to two notches on my belt for the first time in a long long while! In fact, if I stay on one notch my trousers start to slip!
This week I hope to have time to get back to exercises and stuff (I havn't had the time with running around and then flaking out when I finally got home!) so next week should be better still - I hope so!
I should still manage to hit my original target, and with work, go on to my real goal by Christmas, though the 34" waist will still lurk in the future... I am officially a stone lighter than when I started, but still have 2 stone to go. Time to get down to it for real!!!
Posted by Badgers at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)
October 10, 2004
Going Down, But Slowly
Another busy week at work, and I have started exercising every couple of days or so - notning major, just getting it started! Walking the canal, early morning situps, sort of thing.
The weight? Well, It's 14 stone 12 which isn't to bad (considering I had to eat a bit this week!) but it's going down and I look better. Maybe it's all the muscle! I'll be better next week, promise!
Not a big entry, but since the weight loss was so small, it doesn't deserve it!
Posted by Badgers at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2004
Phew!
Well, despite having to eat every day this week (!) I have managed to get myself to 14 stone 13lb, which is pretty much the same as I was before my 'gap week'! I have eaten fairly healthily this week except for Tuesday when I ended up with a mountain of chips on my plate at lunch (not my fault!) but I didn't eat half of them (others did) so it wasn't to bad. Overall, I'm happy with the result... luckily I'm the only one who ever sees myself naked, but you can see areas where fat is disappearing... I won't go into detail, but at the moment it means it isn't a pretty sight, but it is happening. Hurrah.
This coming week I hope to get the time to exercise at least every other day and, of course, take a walk along the canal when I can at lunch. I will be in full control of what I eat again, which should mean a much more pronounced weight loss this coming Saturday and a chance to get back on track... see you next week!
Posted by Badgers at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2004
OMFG!
Not in a good way, either. This week, for various reasons I'll probably mention in the blog (comin' next folks!), I have been off the diet.
Come on, get off the floor, fool!
Due to the depression that was falling on me (likely to be totally removed though once I see what James has done to his hair!) I pretty much ate all the food put in front of me. At least some of them were salads.
So I'm 15 stone 2lb at the moment. I'm hitting the diet this week, though (despite a scary 4-day training course, though there won't be anyone to impress there this time (!))
See you in the much-lighter weekend next weekend!
Posted by Badgers at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2004
On The Way!
Okay, after the huge drop in weight last week, I expected this week to be less, and it was - I'm 14 stone 13 1/2, which is not bad considering that mum's meals have made it difficult (I mean, cheese potatoes and only one salad all week?). It is in my expected range (though I can do much better), and means that I am on my way to my next target! I certainly feel better, and now the fat is actually starting to disappear so it looks like I'm losing the weight! One thing that hasn't happened this week, though, is exercise, or at least not as much as I'd like as I haven't had too much time to do it! This coming week should be better though, as I don't have as much art and scripting to do in a short space of time (thank Zarquon for long storylines in webcomics!), allowing me to take walks along the canal (if the weather is good enough) and exercise in the mornings or evenings... This will help make a big difference by next Saturday, I have no doubt!
Hopefully, there will be no more cheese-potato stodge-fests dropped on me this week either! I mean, I'm not a great fan of the potato (unless it is in the form of a few chips or a bag of M&S Hand-Cooked Crisps (crushed black pepper flavour)), and I really hate mashed potatoes. Once upon a time, the cheese was added to make a change and to encourage me to eat the stuff. Now I just feel ill looking at it, though thankfully I managed to eat as little as I could. And what did we have with the stodge? Sausages. And while watching a programme about just what is in them (meat? vaguely!) and how healthy they aren't! Of course, I like sausages, and won't give up my Sunday morning fried breakfast (bacon, eggs, sausage) as it is my one big treat while doing this, but when your mother's only comment on the programme is 'I haven't looked at what is in our sausages' (they are cheap and bought from Iceland so I shudder to think!), I despair, I just do.
Ah well - another week begins, and this time I'm aiming a little higher - 'under 14 stone' was a little too vague... I want 14 st 9 or less! Until Saturday!
Posted by Badgers at 09:18 AM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2004
Diet Diary: An Introduction
Y'know, I was going to stop doing this blog, but I've seemingly found a whole new way to use it, and this 'diet diary' is oneof those new ways! Don't worry, it isn't one of those things that will catalogue every little thing I eat, but it gets my resolutions out there and so gives me more of a push to keep on with it! I have, in fact, been on the diet on and off all summer, but it is only in the past few weeks that I have managed to stick with it (due to comfort eating due to being depressed after the stuff you can read in the normal blog entries). Surprisingly, it is not due to the various fitness programs on TV at the moment - the fact that it coincides with the shows on BBC, etc, where whole streets are all cutting back to get fit is a coincidence! I was going to do this earlier, but I just couldn't keep it up long enough - I always fell off the wagon and gave up.
A few years ago I had ballooned up to (wait for it) SEVENTEEN AND A HALF STONE! Much of this was put on due to late Friday night internet sessions. The net was cheaper at the weekends, and I was only on dial up, so I would sit at my computer eating chocolates (usually Buttons or Minstrels) and you can imaging what that did for me. See the bloated picture of me in my university get up on the About Me page then add a few more pounds! Working at Preston in computing didn't help as it just made me more depressed, and I ate chocolates and snacked all day. Then, I suddenly came down with a bad bout of flu or something, lost my appetite, and started to lose weight fast - for months afterwards I had no appetite and could barely keep anything down... withing a few short months I had fallen to below 11 1/2 stone, which was probably not good. I could not eat chocolate (thougj I did manage white chocolate for a few months) as it made me feel ill and throw up. I had already stopped drinking tea and coffe with sugar long ago. Any comments I get about me looking thin and stick-like come from this time. I managed to put on more weight, then stablised around 12 1/2 stone, which was fine. In recent years I have steadily put on weight, stablising about 15 -15 1/2 stone. My big problem is that (as friends can attest) I don't actually look like I am that heavy (I don't have great hanging jowls, a huge belly, etc)... I do have a big bum and man-tits (or had - at the time of writing this they are going rapidly!) and, tellingly, have taken to having a short beard shaved so it gives me a more noticable jawline but I manage to look fine when clothed. Luckily I'm the only one who see's me naked - and it is not a pretty sight!!! Even though I may look good, I still feel terribly self-concious when on our (occasional and getting even less frequent) nights out - I get appraising looks, but only from a distance. Annoying. The butter trolls might not care, but I do.
Recently then, I started to eat less (I skip breakfast anyway, and lunches are not common any more) and thankfully for the summer mum started doing the odd salad - now we are having up to three or four a week as they are trying to lose weight too. Basically, this is just a record of how I get on from this point onward - I won't advocate the diet as it may be unhealthy - it is close to being the so-called 'calorie-reduction' thing that some strange people think will add years to their lives, but for me it is just a matter of eating less crappy food (I've avoided frozen oven-ready meals - something we were eating for months as I steadily put on weight - for about two months or more) and more healthy stuff (salads, some fruit). Nothing difficult, though as the autumn and winter approach it may be hard to stop mum from going back to the old ways! I am also exercising far more (something I've only recently been able to get back into due to a damaged ankle that I am soon to have an operation on - another good reason to lose weight!). At the moment I'm not exactly pushing myself on that score, but I will be doing more as the year moves on, which can only help.
So, the big push really began a couple of weeks ago, and so I weighed myself on 29 August - I was 15 stone 11 1/2 pounds. Gulp. This I took as my start point. My aim is that by Christmas, or earlier, I should be just 13 stone at the most, preferably a little less. This would be close to my perfect weight (I am 6 foot tall), and if I can lose between 2-3 pounds a week (not an unreasonable amount) I should hit my target without a problem. After a week, on 4 September (I intend to weigh myself once a week on the Saturday morning, so you can guess when these updates will be made!) I had fallen to 15 stone 9lb. I was on target, but that week I had not exercised and had eaten lunch on Thursday and Friday (off the wagon already!!!). Last week was better - I haven't had much time to eat lunch, and this past Saturday (11 Sept) saw me blasting past my target and coming in at 15st 2 1/2lb - ulp! This is probably down to worry about the car (recently crashed and in for repair at the time) as well as the salads, etc, so I doubt if I could sustain a loss of 6lb a week... if I do, I'll be hitting my target weight a whole lot quicker than I expected!
We shall see - it will be interesting to see how this develops in the coming weeks - will I make it to 13 stone (or if possible., 12 1/2 stone, my ideal weight!) by Christmas or hit the plateau where I find it hard to lose anything? How will my loss stack up against those on the TV shows (at least they can help me get a feeling of how well I am really doing)? I will keep you posted, as I - hopefully - find myself fitting into clothes I havn't been able to wear in a while, and then have to go out and buy new stuff as the old stuff hangs off me like a tent!
My targets then are:
Weight: By Christmas 2004 I want to be 13 stone at the most. Less would be preferable!
Weekly loss: I have set a gentle target of 2-3 pounds a week, though may revise this as I go along if I am losing more a week.
Waist: I hope to get my waist back to the 34" I was when I lost all the weight last time (though anything is a bonus!)
Exercise: I hope to exercise at least every couple of days using my weights, and other equipment to tone myself up. This will have a decided effect on my bum, belly and hopefully increase my metabolism to burn off the fat. Jogging is out due to my ankle, though brisk walks are not too bad.
Food intake: Salads when possible, but I won't give up my Sunday morning bacon eggs & sausage! I will eat fruit (but not too much) and also drink less of the fruit juices I replaced cups of tea and coffee (they make me feel sickly) with as they may add too much sugar if I go though my usual 2 litres of pineapple juice a day! No chocolate isn't a problem as I haven't eaten it in years as it makes me throw up!
See you on Saturday for the first real update! Think thin! Think thin!
Posted by Badgers at 10:56 AM | Comments (2)