A face that lunched on a thousand chips

[stevieglesga]

Hello to you all. Discovered this site by accident and immediately liked it. My name is Stephen and I am 38 yr old civil servant who wants to save a life.... my own!! Managed to loss 30lbs in eight weeks last year for charity only to put same and more on by January 2011 through a poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and weak will. Hit rock bottom at New Year refusing to socialise as ALL i had to wear were jogging pants.

So I decided on my birthday that enough was enough and made a promise to myself that i would be happy again, learn to make some right choices and rediscover my love of sport. I realise I had a long way to go and hope that a journey travelled with others will help us all reach our goal.

By summer 2012 I wanted to lose over 150lbs but set 50lb intervals. 1st goal date was June 2011, followed by Nov 2011 and finally June 2012, but already lost 86lbs by May 23rd 2011.
So far, so good but always wary of that self destruction button that always seems to be only a finger away.

 

[IreneH]

Hi and welcome. Tell us about your diet. And good luck.

Irene xx

 

[stevieglesga]

Thanks for the welcome Irene. You asked for it, so.......

I have cut out bread, pasta, white rice, cereals, sauces, cheese, potatoes and most processed food (no tins of anything). Main meals consist of animal and fish proteins (1.2g for every kilo I weigh) and salad/veg and brown rice. Not quite a primal/paleo diet but close. I try to restrict my daily calories to under 1600. This is very low and i MUST have a day where i consume 2500 plus to prevent my body going into starvation mode (I have a Dominos pizza every Friday).

So, how come i am not constantly hungry? Well apart from the fact i don't suffer from sugar spikes from eating too many carbs (I aim for 100g a day) I start each morning off with a protein shake with skimmed milk (calcium source and tastier than water) and mixed with wheat bran (fibre) and flaxseed (omega oils). This kick starts my metabolism and keeps me full until i force myself to have a banana at morning tea (usually have an apple in afternoon).

I am not the most patient person and losing 84lbs since Jan hasn't just been down to my diet and all my walking (got a 9 mile walk in the morning). I take a raft of supplements and have consulted a lot of research and books (into things such as somatotypes, the carb paradigm and every suggested diet plan) to determine my approach.

Morning: 1x garlic, green tea, vit B complex, guarana, 5-HTP, ALA , acai berry and 2 x CLA (research this taken with guarana)
Lunch: Above without 5-HTP & Vit B
Dinner: Green tea, garlic and ALA stack

All my supplements and proteins are now bought online using and they ALL serve a purpose (just don’t ask me what).

I also consume about 4 litres of water each day and aim to walk a minimum 10,000 steps every day (weekly record is 135,000 but average about 90,000) and constantly wear a pedometer.

I also make myself accountable. Sponsored walks (raised almost £1500 in Walk to Work Week for BHF and Cancer Research and doing 26 mile "Shine" midnight walk in September), I chart my progress on my own personal Information Centre (all charts and graphs) and in a monthly newsletter (a humorous -well, i try- look at the activities i try out for our sports and recreation body) that goes out across my work (was initially just Glasgow but now whole of Scotland). I am also on another weight loss internet forum where I am currently running a few challenges while I also run events in my work and i am on my work's sports regional committee of management

Basically my life now revolves around getting fit. It is extreme but i never want to go back to where i was at New Year and it helps to keep me focused. I could go on about it forever…..

 

[possum]

Hi Stephen, you sound so focussed and a los of 86lbs is brilliant! Well done.