Who remembers typing ASL in a chatroom? Well I’m 33/M/UK
- SW: 306lbs / 139KG
- CW: 262lbs / 119KG
- GW: 160lbs / 73KG
- Height: 5"7
This post is really for me to reflect and take stock about what I’ve achieved. It’s a kind of short term landmark in the grand scheme of things, but one I’m really happy with. My BMI score is now below 40, after starting out at 47. As previously during the height of lockdown I was technically in the vulnerable category which felt utterly stupid and avoidable. 40 is often the point where people start to mention bad things happening as well!
I started my latest journey at the beginning of the year (oh yes, I’ve lost weight before). Lockdown really hampered my progress and I went partially backwards – not in an absolutely terrible way. More in a kind of 2 steps forward, 1 step back way. Thanks to my renewed motivation I have now taken that step forward again and done another step.
My goal
My goal isn’t radical or different to anyone else’s. It’s to be in a “healthy” BMI range. I feel like this encapsulates all the other things I want to achieve too. (Fit smaller clothes, be fitter, etc.)
My motivation
Motivation and the goal and kind of synonymous right? I think yes and no. Obviously your overall goal can be massive – mine is. I’ve broken mine down into small “sub-goals”. While I want to lose 150lbs, I know this won’t happen in a day, week, month, or maybe even a year. That’s a long time and can lead you to feel demoralised on occasion. We live in a society of instant gratification. There’s very little in life that takes this long to get if you really want it.
I’ve broken my sub goals down to:
- BMI Score into each category – this is probably the biggest and longest wait of all the sub goals. But these weights are individual to you.
- Number of stone lost (we use stone in the UK as standard – 14 stones in a pound) – it’s really arbitrary but losing 14, 21, 28, 35 pounds aren’t really achievements people share are they? But what about a stone, a stone and a half, 2 stone, 2 and a half stone? Already sounds great.
- Being under certain amount of stone
- Number of KG lost (I wouldn’t normally do KG – and to be honest didn’t follow it properly until recently – more later)
- Being under a certain amount of KG
- Percentage of weight lost (looking at 5, 10, 15, 20) – again these are arbitrary figures and really individual to you. Nobody celebrates losing 15.3lbs normally – you do if that’s 5 percent!
You’ll be amazed how frequent these milestones are and how motivating it is. So far I’ve passed 23 of these – it certainly makes me feel better about myself.
I play football/soccer once a week in something called “Man v Fat Football” which is a UK nationwide programme specialising in weight loss while playing football. Losing weight each week gives my team goal bonuses for the match we play. Many of the games are won “off the pitch”. If I lose weight each week, I know I’m scoring bonus goals! Google it – it’s a fantastic scheme, it’s basically weight watchers or slimming world but aimed at men.
This scheme was initially how I started to lose weight and helps week to week focus on others not just myself.
Exercise
- I’ve really gotten into Swimming at my local 25m pool, and I go everyday (since it reopened early August). I started out doing 64 lengths (it’s a mile – I love to mix metric and imperial apparently) of breaststroke. I now do 70 lengths in a quicker time than I used to do 64 two months ago.
- I go for walks 3 or so times a week, only about an hour at a time. Normally stick a podcast on my headphones. o
- 30 minutes of football (soccer) a week.
- Household chores count – get the vacuum, brush and lawn mower out!
Food
I have to be fairly strict otherwise I know I’ll fail. I have the same breakfast and lunch each day (relatively speaking) and I’ll snack on fruit and veg. I’ll then allow myself variation on the evening meal. Something which is max 800 calories. I’ve got a passion for cooking so this is actually hobby for me, and I think pairs really well with weight loss and exercise. There’s nothing I wouldn’t eat for an evening meal – nothing is excluded – you’d be surprised what tasty food you can make within this remit.
I’d say I eat somewhere between 1300 and 1500 calories a day.
Same lunch and breakfast helps me to know my calories each day without doing too much thinking.
I drink water and I’ll have 3 or 4 cups of white coffee a day. I’ve cut out alcohol etc. because I know it really impacts my weight loss (the alcohol firstly, and the inevitable foods that you have!)
Other tips which work for me
I don’t weigh myself every day. In other times in my life, I have done this. This isn’t going to do your mental health any good. Weight fluctuations in a day or between days are perfectly normal.
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