The Secret Diary of Picnic Pete - aged 40 1/2...
Hi all!
I suppose I should start with a little history.
At 16 years old I was a skinny 10st 7lb. A bit on the scrawny side. I could eat whatever I want, whenever I liked and my weight was constant. Admittedly, I played football, badminton and ran a lot of the time. By the time I was 19 I was 11 stone, and in pretty good shape. Toned and active.
It was around this time that I got a car, so the walk to the train station to work stopped, and my job was pretty sedentary. I went to the gym occasionally and had a multi-gym at home. My weight was pretty constant until I got married at 24 weighing 11 stone 6lb. Looking back, it's here my weight problems began...
I got back from my All-Inclusive honeymoon abroad weighing 12st 9lb! I couldn't believe that I'd put on a stone and 3 pounds in 2 weeks! Admittedly, I enjoyed eating and drinking what I wanted on the honeymoon, but still. I thought, "it'll soon fall off again." But it didn't...
Driving everywhere from my new marital home (miles from my old gym, so that stopped), my activity levels were not where they should be. My wife is a good cook, and we enjoyed our food. By the time my first son was born on my 27th Birthday (my best birthday present ever!) I weighed in at 14st 4lb.
Here began my various dieting attempts (Weight-Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, Cabbage, you name it). Over the next 13 years, my scales saw my weight top 16 stone and get down as low as 11st 12lb through yo-yo dieting. It's been a similar story for my wife, Victoria. We'll get to a point where we look at ourselves and say, "right - let's see about losing some of this," with varying degrees of success.
But this time is the last time. This time the line is drawn in the sand. We've both committed to TFR. Victoria will be 40 in August, and my 40th resolution to myself late last year was to get back to my 19 year old self (admittedly, my hair's a lot thinner, but I am more concerned with the BMI aspect of the transformation!)
So anyway...
I started LT TFR on the 2nd March 2013 weighing 15st 7lb in clothes - without, my scales said 15st 1lb. My wife and I spent a week on the induction phase of atkins to get ourselves into ketosis in preparation, as the local pharmacist was on holiday. As soon as she was back (and ordered the product) we kicked off on LT.
Day 1 - I was fine. I had to remind myself to drink lots of water. This is the worst part for me - I end up going to the toilet more often, and my job is field-based.
Day 2 - Now TFR began to hit home. I felt like I could have eaten a whole cow. With fries on the side. My stomach growled like a rabid dog all day, and was only made worse when I smelt my kids food cooking. I was like a bear with a sore head.
Day 3 - Today. I'm pleased to say that the hunger has receeded by about 90% and is easily managable. I'm still having to remind myself to drink lots of water and, contrary to other posters on this forum, I love the taste of the strawberry shakes!
It's very early days, but my wife and I are in it for the long haul this time. Our scales say I've lost 3lb since TFR, and my wife has lost 4lb. We both love the simplicity of it. There's no, "well, this should be ok to eat," as it's TOTAL food replacement. No 'ifs', 'buts', or 'maybes'.
I'll post updates periodically, but I'd like to thank all posters here for really offering tons of inspiration and guidance. This is a great site that REALLY makes a difference for people on this diet.
Good luck to any-and-everyone on it!
Pete :)
