Fat Man on a Diet

Tried to buy more meal replacements this morning only to discover the address I’d been given for the specialists new base of operations doesn’t become operational until Wednesday earliest. Since it took me nearly an hour to find that out after phoning people from outside the building he *should* be occupying I decided to give up and go buy something similar from Woolworths!

So far today I’ve had a ‘coffee shake’ (breakfast), a protein bar (lunch), two carrots (desperation) and numerous sugar free sweeties I bought and keep in the car to keep me feeling there’s a purpose in life. I think I’m coping… but there’s a leg of lamb in the oven ready to roast and *already* I can feel temptation towering over me! It’s going to be hard to keep my calorie intake down to a sensible level with all that meat lying there!

Finally got to the gym after hours of trials and tribulations… and managed to do the full hour, tho nowhere near as fast a speed as previously! I managed to keep the elevation ay max… which ‘was a good thing’ but the speed remained at 5.0 for most of the hour rising to 6.0 for maybe 15 mins overall.

All in all tho a good start. Now… if I can only keep it up….

Because I’m now (finally) using my ‘free’ time won as part of the last competition I don’t have a proper ‘trainer’ as such. I’m sure Sally would help out if asked but she’s earning a living so doing free sessions wouldn’t be fair on her. Nevertheless I need measurements taken for the competition so I’ve booked into a session with her tomorrow to get them all taken down and recorded.

Once *that* is done we’ll have a chat about whether I actually *need* any sessions immediately or wait a few weeks until I’m back in the groove properly. I can see the value of seeing her once a week to get motivated… but since all I want to do right now is ‘walk the weight off’, it might be pointless… not to mention expensive… if the target is to make me ‘fitter’ rather than help me ‘win’. I seem to be focused whilst the competition is running!

Once this competition is over I should be down to a weight that will make it easier for me to use Sally’s expertise and actually get *fit* rather than just ‘thinner’.

Just arrived home after taking the youngest daughter to *her* exercise… ice skating. It’s now 9:00 a.m. and almost time for me to leave and make a start at the gym. Before that tho I have to go buy some meal replacements from ‘the diet doc’ to make sure I don’t succumb too quickly to a fit of the nibbles because I’ve not been able to eat something strictly according to the diet.

The weight today was 127.5 kilos – heavier than yesterday but still ok. I had rather a large meal last night because I’d been working all day and was ravenous by the time I sat down to eat, despite having eaten loads of celery and a couple of carrots!By tonight I hope the ketones will have taken over because currently I’m not feeling as bad as I did on Saturday or Sunday.

Either way since it’ll probably take me til 10:00 a.m. before I start exercising, maybe another couple of painkillers before I leave would be a good idea so they kick in *before* I need them rather than afterwards!

Otherwise… it’s up and atom!

I’m already concerned how my back/hip will cope with this new 13 week exercise regime. It’s already hurting far more than it was at the start of the last competition… partly perhaps because of my efforts once or twice to ‘jog’ which may have caused more damage than I’d thought.

Whatever the cause the result is that it now hurts constantly. I’ll still carry on walking the treadmill as before but it may be a good idea to try sitting on the rowing machine which might be ‘easier’ because it isn’t ‘weight bearing’.

We’ll see from tomorrow when I’ll be starting back at the gym for an hour a day, every day. I’ll take the painkillers and anti-inflammatories before I go and hope it’s enough to keep me mobile.

If not? We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I forgot to mention this part I think… well I certainly didn’t spell it out properly even if I mentioned it.

My original weight was 157.9 kilos. At the end of the last competition my weight was down to 119.4 kilos. Since Xmas I’ve regained some 10 kilos so my weight at the start of the competition was registered at 129.8 kilos.

The target? The overall target weight is 85 kilos… I doubt I’d ever get there, but it’s the ‘end point’ I’m striving for. At the end of the 13 week competition however, my target is to weigh a *maximum* of 100 kilos!!

Essentially I need to maintain a weekly average loss of  2.25 kilos. Bearing in mind I lost roughly 4.5 kilos per week during the last iteration of the competition this seems quite achievable right now… tho I *am* aware of the pitfalls, not least complacency and plain old fashioned hunger!

As a slight deviation… was I to lose weight at the *same* rate as previously I’d be down to 85 – 90 kilos, which is my ‘end point’. If I was to get there ‘d really be impressed with myself… but right now the target is to weigh 100 kilos at the end of the competition. If I get there I’d be satisfied… anything else would be a well deserved extra!

And (again) away we go… !!

First day? Second day really I suppose. Anyway, I woke up three or four times in the night to get to the toilet! I think the bladder just wasn’t willing to take the strain any more. Of course it *could* be the start of prostate problems… but let’s assume for the time being that it was the result of a drastically reduced salt intake and an drastically increased fluid intake! That’s a much more positive take on it I think.

Before the competition weigh-in I’d been ‘peckish’ so drank a few glasses of water to control the hunger pains… and drank another bottle while I was there. I downed a few more as the day progressed.

Towards the evening I was getting ravenous, as expected, so scarfed down half a head of celery.. and a large carrot. We then had grilled fish and salad for dinner… followed by a 500 ml cup of liquorice tea.

All in all a *very* ‘low-carb’ day but one high in water content and low in salt… hence assuming my body was simply ‘leaking’. This could account for the apparent high overnight weight loss, but I’ll still check the scales tomorrow… just in case!

Either way I’m still a bit tired but with loads to do.

So far I’ve had a glass of water… I’ve eaten my meal replacement bar and had a cup of liquorice tea. I’ve taken my painkillers etc so am ready (more or less) to face the day. I’m hoping that today the hunger pangs will diminish gradually and that by tomorrow I’ll be in that happy state where I no longer feel the urge to cram my face full of foods with a high carbohydrate, fat, and sugar content… and will sail blissfully on towards my target weight.

Enough rambling… let’s get on with it!

I think our weighing scales need replacing with something a little more accurate. I got on this morning and discovered overnight I’d ‘lost’ 3 kilos… and much as I’d like to believe it I think this just isn’t very likely.

At the weigh-in yesterday using the gym scales, I was 129.8 kilos… on my scales at home this morning… 126.5 kilos. I think perhaps tomorrow morning I’ll weigh at home as usual… but the *first* thing I do when I get to the gym will be to get on the scales to get some sort of clearer picture of the difference between the two measure. That’s assuming there *is* any… after all, whilst it may well be unlikely, anything’s possible isn’t itl!

Ok. it’s now 4:30 p.m…. it’s only 4 hours since this started and I’m already hungry!!

This part of the diet is *always* a pain… sometimes literally.  Until the ketones kick in to moderate the hunger pangs life’s a bitch. As before I know intellectually that the worst will be over in a few days and from then on it’ll be plain sailing. Of course, I also know that, as before, I still have to get *through* those ‘few days’ and that isn’t going to be in any way easy.

Roll on Monday… should be ok by the evening, especially after a couple of hours at the gym!

Ok. Off to the gym this morning at 11:00 a.m. for the opening of the latest incarnation of the Hills Biggest Loser Competition run by Focus Fit Gyms.

First up was yours truly who rambled on a bit forgetting most of what I’d intended to say and getting hopelessly lost a few times. Still… I did it. Next up were a few motivational speakers… who some of us have seen before… and then the ’standard’ weigh-in and photo.

My starting weight was registered as 129.8 kilos… far more than I want to be (or I’d not be on the competition would I?) but far less than I *was*.

Next step is to get to the gym, but I’m going to leave that til Monday morning and concentrate on not eating much for today and tomorrow. The diet and loss of caffeine will give me headaches for the next few days as it always does, so I’m not too concerned.

Next ‘weigh in’ is in two weeks. I’ll be *very* interested to see if there is as marked a reduction as the last time!