ProPoints Celtic Tiger - A man on a MISSION!!!

CelticTiger

Here to help :-)
Greetings and welcome to the ramblings of a man who has struggled with his weight for the past 2 decades. Up until I was 25, I could eat & drink for Ireland and never put on a pound. Then, I turned 25, it was like someone turned on a switch and the weight crept up gradually.

I compensated by smoking very heavily indeed, but to my credit, after smoking for 27 years, I kicked that habit almost 3 years ago. It was the best decision I have ever made. If there was one piece of advice I would like to offer, please do yourself a favour and kick the habit. If you haven't started smoking, DON"T!!! If you fail, keep trying, you will succeed.... (rant over)

So here I find myself, 47, going on 48, and carrying way too much weight. I dress well, buy expensive shirts & suits, so I hide it well. However, I find I have little or no energy to get active with my teenage sons who are FULL-ON. Deep down I know, I'm missing out so much on life. More importantly, I have set my sons a bad example, lounging around, falling asleep after dinner, emotional eating, "rewarding" myself with food or drink or vast amounts of both!

I found Minimins totally by accident 3 weeks ago, and it has been a total revelation. I have read numerous threads on various weigh loss programmes and the results have been phenomenal!!! I have considered SW (it seems to be the most popular) but I have been going it alone on the WW PP's and am doing ok. In just over 3 weeks, I have shed 10 lbs, so I am very pleased with that. I was a devil for carbs, rice, pasta, breads & potatoes, I'd eat a 6 pack of Walkers Ready Salted crisps at a go! I have cut out all potatoe, bread & dairy and I feel so much the better for it. I now use Soya milk, a litre lasts me a week. I am down to one coffee a day, ( I used to drink about 10 a day) and I am now drinking water, pints & pints of the stuff (Thank God Robinsons Lemon Barley!!) I got rid of the frying pan & am using an electric wok. Since starting this diet, I am making stir frys, Chinese, Thai & Indian meals, loading them with veggies, and the lads & I love them. The added bonus is I am getting the boys to eat the veg too, so it's a Win,Win so far.

I know its early days yet, but its a small step along a long but satisfying road. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed every morsel & pint of Carlsberg that has got me to this state/weight. But when the beer high wears off, I know I'm hiding in an unhealthy lifestyle. We are now embarking on a daunting but exciting time in our lives. Hopefully, being lighter, healthier & fitter will add to making us happier.

Finally, I'd like to wish each and every reader the very best of luck with your own personal endeavours. I realise that it takes courage to face our personal devils, to figure out Why we are eating as well as What we are eating. It's a steep learning curve, but by supporting each other in more difficult times, we will all get there, eventually. At the end of the day, it's not about a number on a weighing scales that will make us happy, but the feeling that we are taking control of our own lives and that we can all make a difference in our own quiet way. Best of luck one and all, and welcome to my journey.

Please feel free to offer any advice or (constructive) criticism you feel is appropriate. I'm a big boy, I can take it, but be warned, I've a wicked sense of humour, so I give as good as I get!!! :flirt2:
 
Hi CT

An inspriring tale I have to say! Well done on the quiting smoking, I would imagine that if you can kick that habit that you'll be just as successful in gaining control of your eating!

The fact that you can identify all the reasons you need to do this for yourself probably means you are well on the way. I'm sure your teenage sons will hugely appreciate what you are doing and will keep you on track.

Best advice I can give you is keep all these thoughts you have shared at the forefront of what you do...they'll keep you on track. Also allow yourself a little of what you fancy in moderation, don't deny yourself completely. Well done on losing 10lbs already - great start! Good luck with the rest of your journey!!
 
Thank you for the kind words, calaoie crusader, and well done on those shiny Silver Sevens. Continued success on your campaign
 
No worries, you'll soon be clocking up those 7s yourself..your almost at 2 already!! It's taken me bloody months to get there, real hard slog but I'm determined to get there...going on holiday soon so that's enought motivation to keep me going!!
 
Won't I be the happy man when I get to where you are, within 12lbs of my goal weight! I was re-decorating my place in Spain 4 weeks ago when I decided enough was enough, I would start the weight -loss journey when I got home. I'm glad I did, nothing worse than being in your own way when you're trying to work!

Good luck with those holiday plans,

CT
 
Good morning all. Woke refreshed this morning to a dawn chorus of birdsong & bight sunshine streaming in my bedroom window! Bliss!!! Well it is enough to get me out of the bed & bring my dog for a walk. Normally, Saturday mornings are lie -ins for me. I usually unwind in my local pub on a Friday night after a hard week's work. Last night instead of heading to the pub, I jumped into bed with my netbook and read some more of the amazing stories of struggle and successes that people have shared on here. This morning, I'm sober and planning my menu/shopping list for the week ahead. More later
 
Great post. I think there's a few of us that can relate to a lot of what you say!

I gave up smoking 8 years ago. I echo what you said. Best thing I ever did and wish I'd never started.
 
Good morning and welcome. What a lovely positive saturday morning post. Made me feel good too !!

Well done on a great loss so far. My only advice is to make the diet fit your life and not vice versa, otherwise you will get fed up-so if you want to go to the pub now and then, do it-just be sensible or allow yourself the occaissional day off. It is allowed !!LOL

But enough of my ramblings-hope the rest of your saturday is as good as the start
 
you'll love it here..much more info than the meetings and someone always around to answer!!! well done on giving up the cigs,,nice to not be standing outside the pub in the rain eh:D well done on the 10lbs loss, bet your feeling better for it already!!!
 
Hi Celtic Tiger . Loved reading your post. I started two weeks ago and I really echo what you said about feeling so much better. I am so energetic today it is unreal.(done tons of housework) Are you attending a class ? . They are so good for keeping up the motivation . There are men only classes (well there are here in Ireland ) if you feel a bit intimidated to walk in to a room of women) but you seem to be well able to look after yourself !!! everyone in that room has the same goal and support each other..You will need that as the weeks go by .

I also find coming on here great. the support is brilliant and the food diaries are great for ideas. looking forward to hearing about your journey . you can do this . Its just a life change. .
 
Hi Sassia, good on you girl, 8 years off the smokes...fantastic. Already, I'd say your lungs are as good as the day you started smoking. I had a lung X-ray earlier this year and you could see how my lungs were significantly smaller than the lung cavity, they no longer had to expand to the size needed to function while I was smoking heavily.

Continued success in your endeavours.
 
Hi Kernow Jo, I knew about you long before you knew about me....I have been reading a number of amazing diaries of truly remarkable people who have committed their all to their weight-loss journey. Yours is an outstanding success and I am in awe of your achievements. Best of luck with your future medical procedures. You deserve perfect health after the efforts you have made, (including giving up the ciggies 3 years ago, but I think I have beat that drum enough). It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You are a shining beacon to all who visit these pages.
 
All the best CelticTiger with your weight loss plan

You'll lose the weight in no time, blokes usually do (well the ones in my class seem to shrink twice as fast as the lasses!)

Have a great weekend and look forward to reading your future posts on here! x
 
mommyB - Thank you for the warm welcome , and yes it was an idyllic start to my Saturday, (for a change) sadly it was short lived... more of that anon.

Thanks for the congrats, but I don't feel like I'm on a diet at all, so it's no great kudos so far. I'm taking it day by day, there will come tough times, but right now I'm embracing the change of lifestyle and best of all my sons can see a change in me, and them.

Sadly, the pub is my Achilles Heel. It's like the one in Ballykissangel, a honey pot, impossible to get out of once you go in... I nearly always forget to come home out of the place. It's a standing joke, that no matter what time I go in there, I'm always the last man to leave "for Security reasons",HAHA, but I love the banter as much as the Carlsberg, and once I get into the swing of both, I find it impossible to leave the place.

That's why I took to the bed so early last night, feeling sorry for myself not been in the pub, but the reality is, if I had gone in there, I would not have had the 1 lb weight loss this morning and I would not have been able to function as I needed to later on to-day. So, I just have to learn to control my drinking, I had a few earlier this week, so I might leave it that for this week.
 
Hi NAJH, agreed, two molten droplets of wisdom there, which I will keep very much in mind. Kudos to you girl, you have achieved your Target weight, and are on Maintainance. You deserve the fanfare, I hope you are glowing in your success, a model for all us Newbiees. Hope you have a great week-end too, you deserve it!
 
Hi yummymummy75, a cailin from the old country ;-) And another high achiever...a 40 lb weight-loss to achieve your Target. You are even below target, I'm HUGELY impressed... You know the Smoking Ban has resulted in more relationships been formed, and ending others, it's a very interesting dynamic... smokers make strange bed-fellows!!! HAHA Continued success to you and thanks for the support.
 
Hi Michillinwoman, a fellow weight watcher from Limerick. Congrats on the excellent start you have made and delighted to hear you are feeling the benefits of your recent weight loss. No, I am not attending any class. In the dim & distant past, I attended both mixed & Men Only classes, but I got little or nothing out of it, just paid my fee, got weighed and got pitched some WW bars etc etc... I spend most of my time working all hours or doing the thankless job of Dad's Taxi, so I can do without the class. As I said earlier, the stories and the recommendations on here are just overwhelming, there's more support & advice on here than I'd ever need! Reminds me of my favourite saying " Every cripple has their own way of walking!" I'll just hobble along here at my own pace. I've given up watching TV, too depressing...so I visit sites like this when I have a little down time, which I find beneficial rather than watching crap on the Telly. By the way, I watch "Mike & Molly" - It should be mandatory viewing for all on WW, it's just priceless... Go Pirate Bay!!! Thanks for dropping by, keep in touch.
 
Hi Smirnoff, Elaine, nice of you drop by... you are a wonderful support on here and a mine of information. I agree about the blokes seeming to lose the weight faster, but the converse is true also, we seem to gain it quickly and it stays! Yours seems a more consistent approach and you are seeing the rewards of your efforts. Bet you'll be turning heads on the beaches of Jamaica in 133 days time...good for you!

The other thing I am amazed at is the drop in BMI as we loose the pounds. I am really impressed with mine, a sure sign I am approaching a healthier lifestyle. No idea what my BMI will be when I loose the 50 pounds, but it won't be 37.2, that's for sure...
 
Well, back to to-day... the day started well,(1lb weight-loss) but it soon lost it's way. We lost our Border Collie some months back, she was killed by a neighbour's daughter, txting while she driving, it could have been a child. Bygones! Anyway, we went to an Animal Shelter last Sunday, and they had a two year old Collie that was just fading away in the kennel situation, so we decided to take him on. I went off to collect him this afternoon. The boys had other events on, so I travelled solo.

While I was on here last night, spilling my guts (haha) my sons had 3 pals in, one of them, the last guy to leave stole my son's 250 Euro iPhone 3GS. What was even more incredible was that some other little nuck phoned the Home number this afternoon demanding a ransom for it's return. I phoned to offer the reward but they got spooked when they heard my voice.

Anyway, I arrived home with Denzel (the Collie) and spent the remainder of the afternoon re-enacting the events of last evening. By a process of elimination we arrived at the suspect, so I brought my son along to visit the suspects parents. They were quiet dismissive about the event, but I told them that all the evidence pointed to their son, and if they were not prepared to assist me regain the phone, I would have no other option but to approach the authorities. I told them all I wanted was to have the phone returned, and they would hear no more of it, that I was prepared to put it down to childish pranks, but when they challanged me, I made my way to the Police Station to report the theft. I'm a whizz at Sudoku puzzles, and there was a key piece of evidence that pointed straight at the suspect. The phone was Password protected, the thief needed that Password to open the phone to call the Home number using my son's Sim Card/Phone number from it to demand the ransom. I know this because we have Caller ID. The call is time & date stamped. The suspect asked my son for the Password after the other kids had gone home last night, he was the last one here. It gives me no pleasure to report a child for theft, but it's a sad day when my sons invite their friends into our home and they steal our property. Anyway, it left me FUMING all afternoon. We are decent people. Here we were giving a poor abandoned animal a new home and some little gurrier would steal from us under our own roof!!! Let's just park that and move on...

Down to business, I didn't get time to point anything to-day, but my intake was:

B - Coffee on Soya milk
2 slices of soda bread & marmalade

L - 2 slices of soda bread and 4 slices of turkey

D - I made my Thai Green Chicken Curry on Basmati rice - the boys (and I) loved it. I managed to conceal red peppers, mushrooms, onions, spring onions, garlic & chillies. They came back for seconds, the little monsters! HAHA I have downed 4 pints of Robinson's Orange squash, and I might manage another couple before bedtime. Off now to walk the hounds and lower my blood pressure after to-days dramatic events. More anon...
 
What a nightmare day you've had! Do you think the police will be able to get the phone back to your son? What a wee chancer, asking for the password!! I hope he gets it back might teach the other kid a necessary lesson!!

I have to say how bizarre it is that you called you're newly aquirred buddy 'Denzel' OH and I have long debated over whether or not to get a dog and he is adament that if we did get one it would need to be called Denzel!! He is absolutely obsessed with the name!!

Food for today looks good, thai green curry sounds yum...I made one before with philly and green thai paste - very simple but delicious!! Can't believe you've given up watching tv on the eve of the eurovision song contest ha! I think I may poke myself in the eyes if it doesn't finish soon!!!
 
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