Dave - Journey to lose 180lb from June 2018 (Target achieved in 52 weeks)

[Dave.]

1lb loss for me this week.

Mixed emotions. A lot of people have commented on my weight loss again this week. Saw 3 people for the first time in over 3 months and they were all shocked at the difference. A few others have commented as well which is great. My wedding ring fell off 3 times on Monday so I've had to buy a bit of plastic to attach to it until I've hit a target and can have it resized properly.

Another one of those slightly annoying ones as I've cycled 85 miles this week including a 21 mile ride yesterday afternoon which stupidly I did via the Kent Downs. It's the first time I've had to use the first gear on the bike and it felt like I was going backwards up some of them hills! I was also carrying 2 laptops, a desk phone, 2 days of clothes and a few other bits on my back. For my first properish ride it wasn't the best of ideas! I've read into it a bit and it suggests that it may take a couple of weeks for the body to get used to it and show it so I need some consistency now.

Whilst it may be slightly frustrating for me with the small loss, I feel better physically and my commute to work is far more enjoyable on the bike than it was in the car!

I'm also glad I've got all of the kids events out the way. We went to Legoland on Thursday. I couldn't recommend it enough for anyone with kids. Our first time there, my daughter absolutely loved the place. Outside of the school holidays so we didn't queue for longer than 10 mins for anything and most rides we didn't queue at all. We also got the tickets via the sun's days out thing with codes for £3 for the 4 of us!

On to next week, I'm cutting down on the size of my lunch as I've been going a bit overkill through laziness and eating a bit too much chicken. I'm going to cut the chicken out completely and just have a bowl of couscous maybe with some veg if I prepare it. I'll also be cutting down on the spuds as well as the past 3 days I've felt the need for more and had far too many which probably explains a bit of the little weight loss.

 

[AliGal]

Good plan. Maybe find some other protein you like as an alternative? Frozen white fish cooks fast - great in a home made sauce - tomato, or curry maybe.
Weight loss could be lower due to carbs, a little delay whilst yr body assesses the situation or perhaps muscling up. Do you do a monthly tape measurement? MFP has a useful place to track measurements - and you can add yr own too. You could measure neck, chest, biceps, lower ar, calves, thighs, waist or hips and .....

Maybe for you it's been portion size - but maybe it's coming off in inches but nor in lbs....

 

[Dave.]

Almost daily weigh ins are happening now. I'm not recording the results until the Saturday though. The positive is it has come down this week but like I mentioned in the other thread, I've had a few bags of crisps as my daily syn allowance allowed for it and I'm not convinced that has helped my weight loss this week! I don't know if I should feel guilty about it or not but I am!

I've now cycled 132 miles this month and 207 miles since starting out. My time to cycle to work has gone down from 43:48 to 33:11.

I've got a week working away from home which is going to be a struggle. It's the first time I've had to since starting slimming world. It's usually a once every couple of months thing. The choice of food in the hotel:

I guess I'm going to be taking a trip to the local supermarket and buying some couscous, precooked chicken, salad, fruit and yoghurts!

I'll also be off the bike for the week but the hotel does have a swimming pool and I'm feeling a bit more confident in myself to get in the pool with strangers now!

 

[AliGal]

Bert! Delete that guilt. It just is. It doesn't matter in terms of weight loss - it's just not a pattern you want in the future. I am sooo impressed that you've taken 10 minutes of yr commute. Well done.
Hotels: I am now totally good with asking for exactly what I want. I used to send the hotel a list of what I could eat (free food lists, and amount of fat - for me a tablespoon oil max, pref less) and I was often really pleased with what they sent up for room service in the evenings. They are often really happy to help as it's a bit of interest to them.
Swimming: I'm hoping to swim today and tomorrow. I haven't been for a month - and am back in the big pool near my sister's so will be doing 600m again - I hope to get that up to 1,000m in the next 2 weeks. Enjoy yr swim - I love the stretch feeling I can get when I push off and reach out.

 

[Dave.]

5.5lbs off this week which took me to the 5 and a half stone mark and over 20% loss.

Unfortunately today was my sisters birthday meal at a pub and I ended up having fajitas and chocolate fudge cake and now feel bloated! Another 75+ miles on the bike this week so hopefully it shouldn't affect my weight loss too much this week. The worst part about this was the fudge cake was bloody dry and not worth the hit. I was almost licking the plate to get the melted sauce though!

 

[Dave.]

Bert! Delete that guilt. It just is. It doesn't matter in terms of weight loss - it's just not a pattern you want in the future. I am sooo impressed that you've taken 10 minutes of yr commute. Well done.
Hotels: I am now totally good with asking for exactly what I want. I used to send the hotel a list of what I could eat (free food lists, and amount of fat - for me a tablespoon oil max, pref less) and I was often really pleased with what they sent up for room service in the evenings. They are often really happy to help as it's a bit of interest to them.
Swimming: I'm hoping to swim today and tomorrow. I haven't been for a month - and am back in the big pool near my sister's so will be doing 600m again - I hope to get that up to 1,000m in the next 2 weeks. Enjoy yr swim - I love the stretch feeling I can get when I push off and reach out.

The last time I ate in the hotel restaurant they had no intention of cooking anything off the set course of the meal, not even like mixing chips in for roast potatoes etc. Everything was set, which made me think they maybe had it all prepared frozen!

That's some distance in the swimming. I've only been on a light muck around in the pool and no proper lengths yet as I always have the kids. This will be the first time I can just get in and go for it. Unfortunately it doesn't look like the pool is designed for this and looks more like something for the people after a spa session to relax in.

 

[Dave.]

16.2 miles home on the bike tonight. Unfortunately half way into the ride the bike sounded pretty ****, I must've hit a pothole and the wheel is now looking a bit buckled.

With that and the damage from the accident I'm booking it in to a repair shop on my insurance this week. It's not felt the same since I crashed it.

 

[Eclecticdonkey]

Hey Bert

Just been catching up on your journey. Well done. Such an achievement. How are you finding the food optimising side of things now? Any nice recipes you've been making?

 

[Dave.]

Hey Bert

Just been catching up on your journey. Well done. Such an achievement. How are you finding the food optimising side of things now? Any nice recipes you've been making?

I've got to be honest, my meals are pretty standard! I've not tried anything fancy and have been sticking to what I know and alternating it a bit so I don't get bored except for lunch, which is always ainsley harriott couscous!

Generally for dinner I will have one of these:

Chicken breast coated in schwartz powder baked with spiced wedges and a load of mixed veg.
Chicken breast coated in schwartz powder fried in fry light with onions and peppers and served up with some rice or cauliflower rice
Chili con carne made with tinned tomatoes, chickpeas, mixed beans, bovril, loads of chilli powder and served up with cauliflower rice
The odd cottage pie with mashed potato using my hexA
Slimming World Iceland Stuff - Burger or sausages or bean burger in place of the chicken breast with the wedges and veg.
Slimming World Ready Meal with cauliflower rice

So generally most days I have

6am - frozen fruit defrosted overnight in the fridge with a muller light
11am - Alpen light bar
1pm - Ainsley couscous
4pm - Aplen light bar
5/6pm - one of the dinners from above
7pm - fruit with natural fat free yoghurt

I did only have the one alpen light bar before but since I've been cycling to and from work I tend to have one when I get home.

 

[AliGal]

Sorry to hear about yr bike, Bert.
I've mislaid my swimsuit. I'm staying with my mum - so am hoping i'll find it in the boot with various wierd things I'm storing there and my boxes of sachets! I need to get back in the pool to make the most of the lido still being open.

 

[Dave.]

A week without the bike. A week with very little exercise. A week including a few too many packets of crisps and biscuits (but under the 15 syns every day). The outcome, 5.5lbs off and hit the 6 stone mark. Ridiculous! I guess I'm not overindulging and sticking to the limits of craps I can enjoy and it's still working well.

Bike should be back on Tuesday, Weds at the latest. £350 of damage from my crash!

 

[Cavegirl21]

Well done. Keep going.

£350

 

[AliGal]

The system works, Bert, and when you get yr bike back - you'll accelerate the muscle creation. May slow the scales but speed up the inches and yr strength. Yea...go Bert!

 

[Dave.]

Well done. Keep going.

£350

Tell me about it!

£65 handlebars
£80 brake
£90 pedals
£20 grips
and some labour which includes fixing both wheels!

 

[Dave.]

The system works, Bert, and when you get yr bike back - you'll accelerate the muscle creation. May slow the scales but speed up the inches and yr strength. Yea...go Bert!

I need it after this weekend.

Put on 2lb over the weekend through eating under the syn limit but not sticking to the speed rules and too high a portion size mixed with barely getting out of the armchair as the football was on. Syn free sausages, fried eggs and beans for lunch on the Saturday felt very bad!

Next weekend is the Ryder Cup so it's going to be just as bad! Hopefully the wife and kids go out so I can do some sort of exercise in the front room whilst it's on.

Looking forward to getting the bike back although these early morning temperatures are pretty painful at the moment. 3 degrees here this morning! My shorts and t-shirt might have to go back into the cupboard.

 

[AliGal]

You'll have to invest in lycra now, Bert!

 

[Dave.]

Got the bike back late on Tuesday so had a couple of rides on it last week. 3 miles home from the shop (and 3 miles walking there!), 13.5 miles Wednesday, 17.7 miles Thursday then 6.7 miles to work on Friday where I locked the bike up for a week whilst I travel for work for a week

Thankfully the 2lbs I put on last weekend I've managed to shift + 3lbs. And I have the 20lb showing on the scales which is nice to see.

Now a week of eating ready to eat food from a supermarket. I'm going to do my research the next couple of days before leaving to see what I can do. I'm thinking it's going to be something like:

Fresh Fruit and Yoghurt every day for breakfast.
Couscous and crisps for lunch
Couscous and ready to eat chicken for Dinner.
Fresh Fruit and Yoghurt for dessert.

Alpen Light bar for 11am snack.
Fibre One bar for evening.

I'm just hoping I can find some ready to eat speed food in the shop.

 

[AliGal]

Have you tried those little cucumbers you can get in Lidl and Morrison? They are good to eat. I have them sliced in salads and also cooked.

 

[Dave.]

Have you tried those little cucumbers you can get in Lidl and Morrison? They are good to eat. I have them sliced in salads and also cooked.

I don't like cucumber and I'm not a fan of tomatoes either

My wife and kids eat those mini cucumbers for fun though, they love them!

I've found a couple of the salad pots in tesco which might do the job for me. Mixed leaves, peppers, sweetcorn and onion. Add some chicken and couscous or pasta to that and job done.

It's motivating myself to get in the pool and/or gym at the hotel which will determine how next week goes!

 

[yo-yo-jo]

You are very inspiring Bert! Good luck with your SW journey! X