ChrisPoole
Majorly Motivated Mofo
I have been using this site for a little while now but it has never really crossed my mind to write down my day to day weight loss Journey. As a guy attending SW I am definitely the minority however I'd like to hope that more guys in the future would think about trying it out. So fingers crossed any that do will come across this thread and compare there experiences with my own.
I started using SW on the Thursday 21st February 2013. I was very nervous about going to my first SW meeting because I knew the chances were probably quite high that I'd be the only guy there. However I plucked up the courage to go and I remember my first thought as I walked into the meeting room. I thought to myself 'as I thought, not a guy in sight'. I lined up in the queue to pay my money really having no idea what to expect until my Consultant Rachel came up to me with a warm smile and said hello and asked me to follow her to a table for a newcomers presentation. This immediately put me at ease because I knew I was now on my way to being a member and starting my journey. I remember when Rachel went through the Extra Easy plan with me I kept thinking to myself that this all sounded too good to be true. It got me very excited because I realised that I could lose weight and also carry on eating many of the foods I loved. After the introduction I then rejoined everyone else and we went through the usual process of reading out each persons name and saying if they had lost or gained weight. I realised straight away that this would be a brilliant way of motivating me as I wouldn't want to turn up and look bad due to gaining weight. As the meeting concluded I was shown to the dreaded weighing scales to get my first weight reading, at this point I didn't know what to expect because I hadn't weighed myself in so long. I stepped on and was horrified to see that I weighed 18st 9lbs. By far the heaviest I had ever weighed!! The way I reacted that evening was far different to what I'd have expected though. Instead of being demoralised I actually felt extremely motivated and I knew that evening that I'd never be that heavy again for the rest of my life.
Week 1
My first week of slimming world was definitely a sharp learning curve, I didn't have great experience with cooking and I also was a bit unsure as to what I should be eating. However I pushed through and started to slowly learn recipes. I also started exercising most nights using a form of training called Tabata (I made a separate thread somewhere else explaining how to do it). All of this newly added exercise and cooking from fresh was a lot for my lifestyle to take in during the first week so I felt very fatigued and often tired however I had the determination of wanting to make a big impact on my first weigh in to spur me on. Thursday came along very quickly and before I knew it I was stood in front of the scales again ready to be weighed. This time I stepped on with the utmost confidence as I was feeling good about the amount of effort I had put in during the week. I weighed in at 18st 1lb which meant I had lost 8lbs in week 1. I was very happy and extremely motivated again for the next week.
Week 2
During week 2 I was feeling very good about myself as I had lost so much during week 1. I used the great feeling I got at the weigh in as a reminder of how I wanted to feel every week when I weighed in. I started off the week by going on a walk during my lunch hour and then by going to the gym to do some Cardio after work. This for me was the perfect way to begin the week as it really seemed like a good idea to start how I wanted to finish. Saturday night presented my first problem as I had arranged a night out with my friends. I was really worried it would counteract against the hard work I had put in on Friday so I got my friends together and suggested we played an 18 hole round of golf during the daytime. They all agreed which was brilliant because it meant I'd done 4 hours of walking and hitting a golf ball before I'd even touched a drop of Alcohol. I also decided to treat them all to a SW KFC Style Chicken meal in the evening before we went out in the hope that it would fill us all up and deter anyone from trying to get any fast food. It worked, everyone really enjoyed it and we were all stuffed! Then came the drinking... I stuck to Vodka and Sprite Zero as it seemed like one of the healthiest options I could go for. I ended up getting very drunk and going off track a little bit with a few shots however I managed to get through the night without eating any takeaway food and I limited how much I drank. I woke up on Sunday feeling slightly hungover so I decided to really push myself out of bed and go to the gym. For the first time ever I managed to drag myself to the gym with a hangover and I had a very good hard workout. This got rid of my hangover and I felt absolutely amazing because of it... this was a great sign that my lifestyle really was adapting. The rest of the week went very smoothly until Weds came along. Some of the guys from my work invited me over for a guys night of computer games and drinking, I managed to resist the drinking however whilst there I really strayed from the eating plan for the first time. I gave in to temptation and ate a medium cheese and tomato dominos pizza all to myself. It tasted SO good but the next day I felt extremely guilty on my way to weigh in. Thursday came and once again I stepped onto the scales, this time not knowing how well I'd done because of the drinking and the dominos pizza but I was pleasantly surprised to see I had lost another 4lbs.
Week 3
I began week 3 by promising myself to try harder to avoid any temptations like pizza and alcohol so on Friday I played Squash with a friend at lunch time and then went to the gym and really worked hard on my cardio after work. I felt absolutely amazing and was high so when my friend rang me asking if I felt like going out for some drinks I stupidly said yes. I got round his house where he had a bottle of vodka open and ready to go and we started drinking quite large amounts, I was absolutely starving because I'd worked so hard in the gym and also hadn't eaten that evening so I went out into town very worried about the possibility of eating some junk food takeaways. We went out and got extremely drunk and I ended up eating a large very greasy pepperoni pizza on my way home. I knew it was wrong as I shoveled each and every slice into my mouth without even tasting it properly but I carried on doing it. I woke up the next day feeling quite guilty for what I'd done the night before however I tried not to let it bother me. I found that I was starting to pick at things like chocolate and sweets more and more thinking it was ok however I knew this was a bad habit I needed to cut off. I managed to keep going to the gym and eating mainly to plan throughout the week until Thursday came around again and I can truly say as I stood before the scales I was extremely worried as to what the result would be. I honestly thought I had gained due to my negligence throughout the week. I stepped up onto the scaled and to my shock I had lost 5 1/2 lbs! The exercise was clearly my deciding factor and saved me from gaining that week.
Week 4
After getting away with so much slackness during week 3 I made the mistake of thinking I could probably get away with this again during week 4. I remember getting home from the Thursday weigh in feeling extremely good about myself because I had lost so much so I decided to treat myself by eating half of an easter egg I had purchased to give to someone else at a later date (shockingly bad I know). The problem with week 3 was that I had really gone off course at points and eaten badly on some occasions yet I had still lost 5 1/2lbs, this kind of made me feel like it would be ok to do it from then on. I woke up on Friday and was feeling a bit fatigued from all the exercise I had been doing the week before, therefor I decided not to go to the gym that evening and have a well deserved rest. What I didn't plan on was getting a huge urge to have a Dominoes pizza and then eating a large one all to myself. This was not a good start to the week for me! I woke up on Saturday feeling quite rested by not going to the gym however I'd planned on going to Nandos with a friend later on that day. I presumed this would be ok because I could have some nice chicken without skin on etc but in reality when I got there I ordered half a chicken with medium sauce on it along with fries and garlic bread. I ate it all and also put LOADS of ketchup on it. I felt extremely guilty after this however the guilt wasn't strong enough to make me go to the gym that evening. I found myself picking at chocolate and slacking with the strictness I had had weeks before and in my opinion it was all due to me losing so much the week before. I started swimming that week and from Mon - Weds I really did work hard in the gym however as Thursday came along I didn't know what to expect. I stood on the scales and I had lost a whopping 1lb. I didn't know how to react at first, part of me was happy I hadn't recorded a gain however the bulk of me learnt a very important lesson that very second. I learned that I HAVE to stick to plan and that I can't start getting lazy. This is the point during my weight loss Journey that I will always remember. This is the point in which everything changed for the better because I can tell you this, my motivation and drive sky rocketed and I am not more determined than ever to lose weight.
I will keep updating this as the weeks progress so if you enjoy reading it then please stay tuned!
I started using SW on the Thursday 21st February 2013. I was very nervous about going to my first SW meeting because I knew the chances were probably quite high that I'd be the only guy there. However I plucked up the courage to go and I remember my first thought as I walked into the meeting room. I thought to myself 'as I thought, not a guy in sight'. I lined up in the queue to pay my money really having no idea what to expect until my Consultant Rachel came up to me with a warm smile and said hello and asked me to follow her to a table for a newcomers presentation. This immediately put me at ease because I knew I was now on my way to being a member and starting my journey. I remember when Rachel went through the Extra Easy plan with me I kept thinking to myself that this all sounded too good to be true. It got me very excited because I realised that I could lose weight and also carry on eating many of the foods I loved. After the introduction I then rejoined everyone else and we went through the usual process of reading out each persons name and saying if they had lost or gained weight. I realised straight away that this would be a brilliant way of motivating me as I wouldn't want to turn up and look bad due to gaining weight. As the meeting concluded I was shown to the dreaded weighing scales to get my first weight reading, at this point I didn't know what to expect because I hadn't weighed myself in so long. I stepped on and was horrified to see that I weighed 18st 9lbs. By far the heaviest I had ever weighed!! The way I reacted that evening was far different to what I'd have expected though. Instead of being demoralised I actually felt extremely motivated and I knew that evening that I'd never be that heavy again for the rest of my life.
Week 1
My first week of slimming world was definitely a sharp learning curve, I didn't have great experience with cooking and I also was a bit unsure as to what I should be eating. However I pushed through and started to slowly learn recipes. I also started exercising most nights using a form of training called Tabata (I made a separate thread somewhere else explaining how to do it). All of this newly added exercise and cooking from fresh was a lot for my lifestyle to take in during the first week so I felt very fatigued and often tired however I had the determination of wanting to make a big impact on my first weigh in to spur me on. Thursday came along very quickly and before I knew it I was stood in front of the scales again ready to be weighed. This time I stepped on with the utmost confidence as I was feeling good about the amount of effort I had put in during the week. I weighed in at 18st 1lb which meant I had lost 8lbs in week 1. I was very happy and extremely motivated again for the next week.
Week 2
During week 2 I was feeling very good about myself as I had lost so much during week 1. I used the great feeling I got at the weigh in as a reminder of how I wanted to feel every week when I weighed in. I started off the week by going on a walk during my lunch hour and then by going to the gym to do some Cardio after work. This for me was the perfect way to begin the week as it really seemed like a good idea to start how I wanted to finish. Saturday night presented my first problem as I had arranged a night out with my friends. I was really worried it would counteract against the hard work I had put in on Friday so I got my friends together and suggested we played an 18 hole round of golf during the daytime. They all agreed which was brilliant because it meant I'd done 4 hours of walking and hitting a golf ball before I'd even touched a drop of Alcohol. I also decided to treat them all to a SW KFC Style Chicken meal in the evening before we went out in the hope that it would fill us all up and deter anyone from trying to get any fast food. It worked, everyone really enjoyed it and we were all stuffed! Then came the drinking... I stuck to Vodka and Sprite Zero as it seemed like one of the healthiest options I could go for. I ended up getting very drunk and going off track a little bit with a few shots however I managed to get through the night without eating any takeaway food and I limited how much I drank. I woke up on Sunday feeling slightly hungover so I decided to really push myself out of bed and go to the gym. For the first time ever I managed to drag myself to the gym with a hangover and I had a very good hard workout. This got rid of my hangover and I felt absolutely amazing because of it... this was a great sign that my lifestyle really was adapting. The rest of the week went very smoothly until Weds came along. Some of the guys from my work invited me over for a guys night of computer games and drinking, I managed to resist the drinking however whilst there I really strayed from the eating plan for the first time. I gave in to temptation and ate a medium cheese and tomato dominos pizza all to myself. It tasted SO good but the next day I felt extremely guilty on my way to weigh in. Thursday came and once again I stepped onto the scales, this time not knowing how well I'd done because of the drinking and the dominos pizza but I was pleasantly surprised to see I had lost another 4lbs.
Week 3
I began week 3 by promising myself to try harder to avoid any temptations like pizza and alcohol so on Friday I played Squash with a friend at lunch time and then went to the gym and really worked hard on my cardio after work. I felt absolutely amazing and was high so when my friend rang me asking if I felt like going out for some drinks I stupidly said yes. I got round his house where he had a bottle of vodka open and ready to go and we started drinking quite large amounts, I was absolutely starving because I'd worked so hard in the gym and also hadn't eaten that evening so I went out into town very worried about the possibility of eating some junk food takeaways. We went out and got extremely drunk and I ended up eating a large very greasy pepperoni pizza on my way home. I knew it was wrong as I shoveled each and every slice into my mouth without even tasting it properly but I carried on doing it. I woke up the next day feeling quite guilty for what I'd done the night before however I tried not to let it bother me. I found that I was starting to pick at things like chocolate and sweets more and more thinking it was ok however I knew this was a bad habit I needed to cut off. I managed to keep going to the gym and eating mainly to plan throughout the week until Thursday came around again and I can truly say as I stood before the scales I was extremely worried as to what the result would be. I honestly thought I had gained due to my negligence throughout the week. I stepped up onto the scaled and to my shock I had lost 5 1/2 lbs! The exercise was clearly my deciding factor and saved me from gaining that week.
Week 4
After getting away with so much slackness during week 3 I made the mistake of thinking I could probably get away with this again during week 4. I remember getting home from the Thursday weigh in feeling extremely good about myself because I had lost so much so I decided to treat myself by eating half of an easter egg I had purchased to give to someone else at a later date (shockingly bad I know). The problem with week 3 was that I had really gone off course at points and eaten badly on some occasions yet I had still lost 5 1/2lbs, this kind of made me feel like it would be ok to do it from then on. I woke up on Friday and was feeling a bit fatigued from all the exercise I had been doing the week before, therefor I decided not to go to the gym that evening and have a well deserved rest. What I didn't plan on was getting a huge urge to have a Dominoes pizza and then eating a large one all to myself. This was not a good start to the week for me! I woke up on Saturday feeling quite rested by not going to the gym however I'd planned on going to Nandos with a friend later on that day. I presumed this would be ok because I could have some nice chicken without skin on etc but in reality when I got there I ordered half a chicken with medium sauce on it along with fries and garlic bread. I ate it all and also put LOADS of ketchup on it. I felt extremely guilty after this however the guilt wasn't strong enough to make me go to the gym that evening. I found myself picking at chocolate and slacking with the strictness I had had weeks before and in my opinion it was all due to me losing so much the week before. I started swimming that week and from Mon - Weds I really did work hard in the gym however as Thursday came along I didn't know what to expect. I stood on the scales and I had lost a whopping 1lb. I didn't know how to react at first, part of me was happy I hadn't recorded a gain however the bulk of me learnt a very important lesson that very second. I learned that I HAVE to stick to plan and that I can't start getting lazy. This is the point during my weight loss Journey that I will always remember. This is the point in which everything changed for the better because I can tell you this, my motivation and drive sky rocketed and I am not more determined than ever to lose weight.
I will keep updating this as the weeks progress so if you enjoy reading it then please stay tuned!
