Another week of diet-and-binge – I’ve really got to stop doing this.
I’m searching in vain for that will-power I had this time last year.
Weekly loss: -0.9kg (-2lb)
Total loss: 31.5kg (69.4lb or 4st 13lb)
To target: 17.4kg (38.2lb or 2st 10lb)
Current weight: 112.6kg (248lb or 17st 10lb)
Been a few weeks huh?
I’ve pretty much been off the diet-and-exercise wagon for most of that. That in itself is ok. However I’ve been doing almost nothing and eating loads – that’s not.
So a week ago I decided to get back on the straight and narrow and weighed myself – came to 112.6kg or +11lbs from the 1year mark.
I managed about 2/3rds of the week mostly keeping to the diet, had a pretty serious take-away weekend and pulled it back a little on sunday. Here’s the numbers based on today:
Weekly loss: 0.9kg (2lb)
Total loss: 32.4kg (71.4lb or 5st 1lb)
To target: 16.4kg (36.3lb or 2st 8lb)
Current weight: 111.7kg (246lb or 17st 8lb)
That’s right folks. It’s one year today that I started Lesamy. You may have thought I didn’t blog yesterday due to the usual slackness but in fact this was deliberate for once.
I’d love to say that the recent downward trend has continued but unfortunately I can’t. I put on a couple of pounds this week. I kind of expected that though. Things have happened at work which mean that I now have a new position. This meant some stress-relieving eating, some time spent revising for a test that could have been spent exercising and finally some celebratory eating and drinking. Nothing too excessive but enough so I knew I’d gain this week.
But I’m very pleased about my new position. It’s a great opportunity and something I’ve wanted for a while.
Meanwhile I’m still under 17 stone and have lost 80lbs this year. Which means almost exactly 1.5lbs a week – which is slap in the middle of where I should be. A shame that that represents periods of a lot more plus a few of gaining back. Still, onwards and er, downwards. I still aim to be 15 stone at some point. It’s definitely harder as there are always excuses to take time off the diet. But even if it takes another year it’ll be fine.
Of course less than a year would be fine too!
Weekly loss: -1kg (-2.2lb)
Total loss: 36.4kg (80.2lb or 5st 10lb)
To target: 12.4kg (27.4lb or 1st 13lb)
Current weight: 107.7kg (237lb or 16st 13lb)
I passed a milestone this week – 2 million (recorded) steps of exercise since I started Lesamy. That’s about 860miles walked.
Well I had a good week and a not bad weekend. I had a bit of a “freebie Friday” with a visit to the pub and yesterday I pigged out a bit – but I seem to have gotten away with it. I have checked my scales and replaced the battery and it seems to be right.
Weekly loss: 13kg (2.9lb)
Total loss: 37.4kg (82.5lb or 5st 12lb)
To target: 11.4kg (25.2lb or 1st 11lb)
Current weight: 106.7kg (235lb or 16st 11lb)
Whilst at home for the party I spoke about last time, I spoke with my sister who said that she’d found she could maintain her weight by sticking to the diet during the week – because of the routine of packing a lunch etc – and eating what she likes at the weekend. Certainly I identify with the fact that it’s relatively easy to keep to the diet during the week but the real temptation comes at the weekend. That’s been the pattern for the last few weeks any how.
Anyway I didn’t quite eat what I liked but I did have the party and was at home. But as the numbers show I stayed about the same. Which is not what I want to do at the moment but it’s good to know for the future.
Weekly loss: –0.1kg (-0.2lb)
Total loss: 36.1kg (79.6lb or 5st 9lb)
To target: 12.7kg (28.1lb or 2st)
Current weight: 108kg (238lb or 17st)
I guess I spoke too soon. Me and my triumphalist attitude about work-lady’s comments. Still no one to blame but blame itself – or something.
Actually I’m not that bothered. I had a big weekend and I expected this to be worse. What’s slightly worrying is that I’m at home this coming weekend for a family party. Maybe I can still be sensible.
We’ll see.
Weekly loss: –0.6kg (-1.3lb)
Total loss: 36.2kg (79.8lb or 5st 9lb)
To target: 12.6kg (27.9lb or 2st)
Current weight: 107.9kg (237lb or 16st 13lb)
Equivalent to: 20-April (17 weeks ago)
Remember how excited I used to get when someone at work noticed a change in my weight? Well it happened again a few days ago. A lady who, frankly, has always been a bit odd with me, told me that “I’d put on a couple of pounds” She went on to express disappointment because apparently I’m her inspiration and thus I’m letting her down. She probably sees this as good natured banter and so would I if I knew her better and actually er, liked her. But obviously I’m too polite to say what I actually feel.
The other reason is that’s she’s right. Sort of…
What she’s probably noticed is that between my absolute lowest and my recent biggest (a couple of weeks ago) there’s about a stone’s difference. Something about which I already feel bad and which I’ve already started to turn around. But it’s been tough to get back to dieting consistently. I do ok during the week it’s the weekends I find tough. In particular I start to fancy alcohol and if I give in I end up both eating and drinking more than I should. Last weekend for example I pretty much just binged, but because I’d had a good week before that I managed to still lose weight. This weekend just gone I did better, though I still ate more. I had tried to control it allowing myself the old idea of a treat day of 2300 calories. But 2300 became 2500 and one treat day became two. Still if I did better this weekend than last then next ought to be pretty much on track again. (The weekend after that I’ve got a family party but oh well we’ll cross that bridge…)
So I wasn’t expecting too much from today’s weighing but got a nice surprise:
Weekly loss: 0.8kg (1.8lb)
Total loss: 36.8kg (81.1lb or 5st 11lb)
To target: 12kg (26.6lb or 1st 12lb)
Current weight: 107.3kg (236lb or 16st 12lb)
Equivalent to: 27-April (16 weeks ago)
Which is nice because I lost more than the almost-nothing I’d expected, because I’m back below 17st again, because ~2lb a week is a good rate (as we know) and because weird work-lady got it wrong. I actually lost a couple of pounds.
So there!
Lesamy Week 45
Weekly loss: 1.2kg (2.6lb)
Total loss: 36.8kg (81.1lb or 5st 11lb)
To target: 12kg (26.6lb or 4st 12b)
Current weight: 107.3kg (236lb or 16st 12lb)
Lesamy Week 46
Weekly loss: -2.4kg (-5.3lb)
Total loss: 34.4kg (75.8lb or 5st 5lb)
To target: 14.4kg (31.8lb or 2st 3lb)
Current weight: 109.7kg (241lb or 17st 3lb)
Lesamy Week 47
Weekly loss: 1.6kg (3.5lb)
Total loss: 36kg (79.4lb or 5st 9lb)
To target: 12.8kg (28.3lb or 2st)
Current weight: 108.1kg (238lb or 17st)
Equivalent to: 20-April (20 weeks ago)
First, apologies for the lazy, cliched, ‘X is the new Y’ format but I haven’t got the time or inspiration to come up with a better title.
Second, I won’t dwell on the numbers above – a good week, a week’s holiday where I overdid and a week where I pulled it back a little. I’m happy to be going in the right direction, a little less happy to be going up and down so much…
Anyway, since promising myself a ‘pause’ at week 52 hasn’t really worked, I’ve decided to change my target – my current target – to 15 stone instead of 12. I should be able to hit this by Chrismas or just after. If I then try to ‘maintain’ for a while and I settle somewhere between 15 and 16 then I won’t be desperately unhappy.
12 stone would still be a nice long term target – like over the next year or even two.
I really must get back to updating this every week too.
Lesamy Week 43
Weekly loss: -2kg (-4.4lb)
Total loss: 37.3kg (82.2lb or 5st 12lb)
To target: 30.6kg (67.5lb or 4st 11lb)
Current weight: 106.8kg (235lb or 16st 11lb)
Lesamy Week 44
Weekly loss: -1.7kg (-3.7lb)
Total loss: 35.6kg (78.5lb or 5st 8lb)
To target: 32.3kg (71.2lb or 5st 1lb)
Current weight: 108.5kg (239lb or 17st 1lb)
So clearly two not very good weeks.
And, in the words of the man in the title, that’s all I have to say about that.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Even before the recent “plateau-ing” of my weight-loss (which is really an indication of my ambivalence about going further). As the reality of “loose skin” becomes more and more apparent – i.e. visible – I get more and more nervous about ending up with lots of it. The answer I think is to slow down, to give my body time to adjust to being 85lbs lighter than it was. Give the skin time to firm up and shrink back.
So I’ve being toying with the idea of a “pause” – stopping losing weight but maintaining what I’ve got for a while, probably several months. I was going to post a long discussion of the pros and cons but then I weighed myself and discovered that I’ve put weight on again, due probably to a fairly calorie-full weekend, itself due to mixed feelings over the whole loose skin issue.
So I’ve decided to do it. Or to plan to do it. And here’s the plan.
It’s week 42 and I weigh 16st 7lb. In 10 weeks it’ll be 1 year since I started and I should be under 16st by then. That seems to me a good point to start maintaining at. From then on I’ll aim to keep my weight under 16st but not really reduce it. How long? Well at least until Christmas and after that maybe a bit longer too.
In case anyone thinks this is the easy way out “pausing” is not giving up. Not when the whole point is to try to firm up what’s there. I’ll need to keep the exercise going – especially the sit-ups and so on – and I’ll need to still be watching what I eat. I’ll be allowed a little more but I won’t just be able to not care at all what and how much I eat. And I’ll need to do all that without the satisfaction of seeing those numbers steadily fall. I’ll also have to cope with people thinking I’ve quit when they won’t know the real reason.
But I think I can do that. I want to do that. As this weekend has reminded me I actually don’t really enjoy eating loads and loads any more, I get full and feel uncomfortable. And I’d much rather be a fit, but “fat” guy than a “slim” one covering up folds and folds of loose skin.
Weekly loss: -0.5kg (-1.1lb)
Total loss: 39.3kg (86.6lb or 6st 2lb)
To target: 28.6kg (63lb or 4st 7lb)
Current weight: 104.8kg (231lb or 16st 7lb)