Tony's "Grand Plan" Progress Diary

[tony7]

Had a good weekend after my disappointing weigh-in on Saturday.

Did a 60-minute workout on Saturday evening, eating well throughout that day. Even managed to play active games in the garden in the late afternoon which also got my heart pumping!

Sunday we went strawberry picking, and ate well except my wife made some amazing Strawberry Shortcakes for tea so I enjoyed a couple of those.

This morning I dragged my wife out of bet with me to do a 45-minute tough workout. She found it hard but I'm so proud she did it. It helps us both if we're both motivated to exercise in the mornings - it could give her great results too!

I bought new clothes for work on Saturday and today I'm wearing my new trousers and a new shirt. I've had 6 or 7 complements from colleagues who have all commented at how slim I look! It's really great! Loving it at the moment!

Lets see if I can lose a couple of pound this week, at least the one I put on last week.

Don't you find it much easier to eat less in the hot weather? I certainly do... Mind you, I'm a bit addicted to sugar-free jelly - I eat 1 or 2 jelly's a day!

 

[tony7]

Still a bit worried that my weight may be creeping up... diet wise doing generally ok except for some snacking in the evenings. Cardio exercise is going well (especially now I've roped my wife in too!) but resistance training has stalled.

Will re-start resistance workouts tonight!

Expecting another 1lb weight gain this week. Need to try to cut it off at the pass!

 

[tony7]

Weigh-in this week showed a 1lb loss which reverses last weeks 1lb gain, thankfully.

At least I'm managed to lose something considering... I've not been eating unhealthily or anything, its just that I've eating a bit more than I have for the last 5 or so months. Exercise is still going well though.

 

[cheeseontoast]

Just read your whole diary from start to finish. You have done fantastically well! You should be very proud. Well done!

 

[tony7]

Thanks cheeseontoast! And thanks for taking the time to read through all my posts. Its nice to know there are other people out there (sometimes this diary gets a bit lonely!)

Diet was relaxed a bit this weekend, partly for fathers day. Did lots of cardio though. 1 hour of the hardest workout I can manage on Saturday (I mean really hard, the sort of work out where you really start to question whether you can actually carry on!) then 2 hours of kayaking yesterday (which exhausted me!).

So pretty good for exercise, just need to stay committed to the healthy eating now.

Thank god for sugar free jelly and muller lite, that's all I can say!

Mind you, my wife did the shopping this week and she bought so much bad food - little bits of flapjack and small caramel shortbreads and sweets and all sorts. I was a bit cross because its too much temptation. I'll resist from now on, I'm adamant.

 

[tony7]

just a quick post to say that at my last weigh-in I lost a further 2lbs taking me to 12 stone 4 lbs..... now I'm below my original target.

I'll be revising my target to 11 stone 7lbs (161lbs) - heck lets make it a round 160lbs. I'm not stressing about getting to this latest target - it may take me some months because I've relaxed my diet somewhat, but I'm still avoiding over-consumption of truly awful foods, and I'm still losing albeit at a much slower pace. I'm still managing 5 full-on cardio workouts per week (I've become a bit dependent on these workouts - if I miss a workout I get a bit panicky and stressy!).

I'm loving the sunny weather with my new slimmer look - it really makes the summers more bearable. With forecasts of a heatwave this week, I'll appreciate not carrying around 20 extra kilos with me!

Once I'm down to my new target I'll start resistance training (which has lapsed a bit lately) and try to bulk up to 12 stone 7lbs again with muscle mass.

By the way, the motivation for a further 1 stone loss over my original target is entirely due to my belly! Its still not flat enough for me. Oh - that reminds me, I must keep up the crunches!

P.S. I worked out that I've lost over 20kilos in weight... thats equivalent weight to 80 blocks of butter! 80!!! That's amazing.... looking at myself in a mirror I can't begin to think where on my body I would spread 80 packs of butter!

 

[tony7]

A big drop this week - 3lbs! So now I'm at 12stone 1lb.

People are really beginning to think I look too thin and a bit 'drawn'. I caught sight of myself in a mirror in an elevator yesterday and I'm inclined to agree - a bit too thin!

So, what's to do? Bulk up time perhaps?

Maybe I need to get on with some resistance activity on top of the cardio now. I don't mind being this thin if I've got a larger chest and arms.

Been really really tired this last week. This has led me to wonder if all this getting up at 6am to do a workout is really good for me. I think I'm burning myself out. I'm almost dozing for most of the day.

I missed a workout yesterday because I needed to commute into the city and walking around London is pretty good exercise anyway (I didn't use public transport all day - despite the rain!)

Should workout again tomorrow.. we'll see.

I was going to get down to 11stone 7lbs before working on my arms chest and six-pack... not sure if I should do that or not now. What do you think? I guess if I'm going to bulk up it doesn't matter too much to go through a "skinny" phase, does it?

 

[tony7]

I didn't weigh-in last weekend but did this weekend and gained 1lb. Not bad considering my diet has been more balanced (i.e. a few more treats, not so much "going without").

I'll be maintaining a rigorous weighing-in schedule so that I can monitor any notable digression from my current weight or my forward planned weight-loss... I suppose that's a sort of maintenance.

Although I want to get down to 11stone 7lbs, I'm not attached to that loss (its just to reduce my body fat percentage before I start resistance training, which I probably won't do in earnest for some time).

I'm trying my best to keep the exercise going. Its getting tough to jump out of bed at 6am every day! Luckily its summer holidays from Thursday so I'll be able to get up an hour or so later - it'll make all the difference.

Still doing at least 30minutes of full-on cardio about 5 times a week, usually rising to 45mins one of those times. Also trying to fit lunchtime walks into my day, at least once or twice a week.

While I'm at work my diet is great. I just have a healthy breakfast (cereal, yogurt, low-cal drink) and a lunch (sandwich, sugar free jelly, fruit and baked crisps with water). Then I have a full-on evening meal. Its the weekends when I indulge a bit, usually having a few snacks and some dessert or maybe eating out.

It would be nice to see the scale dip just below 12 stone though...

 

[tony7]

My diary is dropping to the bottom of the front page so I thought I'd better post an update.

Went away for a long weekend last weekend so I didn't really diet (although saying that my normal eating is a lot more healthy anyway... not eating snacks and stuff so hopefully I didn't gain).

Exercising 4 or 5 times per week, down to 30 mins high-impact cardio each time now. Try to do 45 mins on Saturday. Not doing resistance training at the moment... might do soon - would still prefer to lost half a stone or more before I start though.

Will weigh in on Saturday after my workout and post current weight soon after. According to the innacurate analogue scales I'm about the same as I was last time... we'll see...

 

[tony7]

I lost 1lb at last saturday's weigh-in. Will probably weigh in again tomorrow.

In other news, I discovered ryvita crackerbread! Wow, this stuff is good. I've also switched from country-life butter to "I can't believe its not butter LITE".... I normally love my butter but this stuff is half the calories of country life.

Still with the jelly, the cherries, the same breakfast (cereal - usually cinnamon grahams - a muller lite and a low-cal drink), the same lunch (sarnie, baked crisps, jelly, fruit and water) and a full meal in the evening. The slow progress with the weight loss may be due to me not doing my lunchtime walks as often as I used to (my colleage is off work for a while) and possibly due to my snacking in the evenings (usually a sandwich + yogurt, no treats as-such) but the ryvita crackerbreads should help that along.

Not posting here much any more. Don't feel the need like I used to. Still want to lose about 9lbs but not stressing about it.

Will continue to post if anyone wants to hear.

 

[thefutureisbright]

Well done on your focus and self control! Good Luck in getting the last 9 pounds off!

 

[tony7]

well... its been over 5 and a half months since my last post... I'm quite proud of how well I've managed to keep the weight off! Right up to Christmas I managed to maintain 175lbs - although I'd ideally be around 168...

So... why am I back? One word......... CHRISTMAS!

I've spiked back up to 182lbs, thats a full stone over my ideal. So, I'm back to lose that last stone again.

In all honesty, I'm quite please at how things have gone, and I don't feel too bad about losing a stone, but its not necessarily an easy thing to do. I've lapsed back to eating more snacks and naughty foods routinely - I need to stop. That wrench will be just as hard as it was this time last year, although its better that I catch it now before I put on 3 stone!

Then there's the exercise. I have reduced my exercise a bit (didn't exercise over Christmas) but I have managed to do some most weeks. This week I need to revert to 4 or 5 times a week. The trouble is, I really am struggling to get up in the morning.

In fact, I've decided that the winter months are flippin hard for losing weight! Who wants to be eating fewer calories than they need when they're cold, wet and tired?! Not me...

Tonight, for example, I've struggled not to take in a nice hot pie or pudding. I'm going to bed now - that's my last line of defense. If I don't trust myself to avoid the snacks - GO TO BED!

I'll try to lose a stone by the end of March - thats a little under 2lb a week and should see me back to my old self in time for Spring.

Here goes....... again.

 

[DaveC]

Tony, congrats on your excellent achievement and for being open and honest. If I may, I'd like to offer a bit of advice which I hope will be constructive.

It sounds like you struggle to find the motivation to do your exercise routines. If you don’t enjoy getting up at 6am to work out… don’t do it! Ask yourself, am I happy doing this for the rest of my life? If the answer is no, find an alternative and repeat until the answer is yes.

Snacking isn’t a bad thing and many thin people seem to eat little and often. It depends what you snack on lol. One of the worst things you can possibly do is eat just before you go to bed. Time your evening meal so that you don’t feel the need to snack before turning the lights out.

I have no scientific knowledge, I haven’t even completed my diet yet so feel free to ignore my ramble but maybe it will help ;-)

Cheers
Dave

 

[tony7]

I'm Back!

So in January I returned here after quite a long break to kick-start a post-Christmas weight-loss after some seasonal weight-gain... that went okay to a point - I got down from 13 stone to 12 and a half stone and then hovered between 12.5 and 13 right up until my summer holiday.

Now I'm back to shed a whole stone following my summer holiday. My current weight has returned to just above 13 stone. The problem is not so much my weight (although my spare-tyre is definitely bigger and I really wish I could shed it!) - rather its my mental attitude.

I need to return to the focused mental attitude I had last year to lose a stone to my lowest recorded weight of 12 stone (I'm sure I got down that far last year but I didn't stay there for long). If I can do that between now and Christmas I will be pleased.

Problems: I have started to binge-eat - especially when I'm on my own. I'll eat pastries and chocolates from the supermarket. There's no real need for it, and there is no place for it during a weight-loss phase, so I need to stop. Secondly, I'm feeling tired and although I managed to exercise consistently throughout my holiday I'm finding it a struggle right now. I need a more positive mental attitude to get the right level of exercise - not too much (I've been guilty of that in the past) but enough.

So my plan is this:

Lets say I want to lose 14 pounds (assuming I'm 13stone 2lbs - don't know for sure until I do a wii fit weigh in at the weekend) - at a rate of 2lbs a week that would take 7 weeks, with a few weeks for the unexpected and inevitable, my target date can be November 5th - Bonfire night!

I'll continue to exercise 4 times a week, at least 45minutes cardio each time. I'll modify my eating to cut-out the high-calorie snacks and replace with my fruit and sugar-free-jelly favourites.

Generally, the rest of my diet has remained the same as when I was losing weight last year - I eat a breakfast, I have a sandwich, fruit and baked crisps for lunch, and I have a proper dinner. It's really just the snacks that are a problem.

I'm really going to do my best this time. Here goes, again.

 

[tony7]

Just checking back to confirm a good start! I followed my eating schedule to perfection yesterday and exercised this morning on schedule.

Expecting my first weigh-in on Sunday to measure me at about 13 stone or 182 lbs, so that will be the starting point for a 1 stone weight loss journey.

 

[tony7]

OK, so first weigh-in complete... I'm actually a couple of pounds heavier than I had assumed. According to Wii Fit I currently weight 184lbs (13stone 2lbs). My weight loss objective is therefore 16lbs or 1stone 2lbs.

Since Wednesday last week I have been reasonably good - reminiscent of my full-on diet last year. Occasional good meals with the family (not unhealthy, but not exactly "weight-watchers") and the rest of the day healthy-eating. Having breakfast every day and keeping up with my exercise regime. I've added the "100 pushup challenge" (100 pushups training) to the mix for my exercise routine - I like goals and working to meet them.

I'm going to have a really really good week foodwise this week to give this weight-loss a real kick-up-the-arse start! It seems to me this is more about mental attitude than anything else - you've just gotta be in the right place mentally. I'm hoping I am right now.

 

[tony7]

Last night I attempted carbicide. nuff said

Hopefully I can make up for it over the rest of this week.

 

[tony7]

I've had flu (or at least a really bad cold) since Friday night, so I haven't been doing my normal exercise routine and I didn't weigh-in with Wii Fit on Sunday morning. On the positive side though, I'm not eating as much as usual so it should all balance out.

I'm waiting until at least Thursday before my next workout - hopefully by then it will be out of my system. Then I'll revert to normal weigh-in on Sunday.

Feeling a bit sickly at the moment I actually do not want too much food. I'm beginning to feel like I can rise-above the temptation a bit better. Not sure why though. I hope it lasts!

 

[tony7]

crikey - can't believe that last post was over a month ago! Had a varied few weeks - gained a couple of pounds I think, but trying my best to stay on track. Actually trying to figure out what it is that gets me through the day right up to about 7pm eating really healthy but then I need massive amounts of crap food. Weird.

Trying all sorts of things. Currently thinking about a small bowl of porridge if I get the munchies early evening (with just a bit of low-cal sweetener as a topping). Also tried air-popped popcorn a few weeks back - that was ok... still, it isn't a big bag of m&m's is it!

 

[Aline]

Hello Tony,

Maybe you're eating little during the day and your body then is starving by 7pm... Do you eat fat, protein and carbs during the day? Maybe you're lackaing some of these three things by night...
Anyway don't panic, just plan. Really, plan your last meals of the day in advance and try to stick with it Air-popped popcorn is very healthy and oatmeal is very satisfaying. If you enjoy these things make them in advance, so that you can "attack" them later, instead of junk

Good luck!