So this is my new diet and fitness blog. The reasoning behind it is simple. I’m forty five years old, incredibly overweight and even more unfit. Having moved to working at home three days a week, my already sedentary lifestyle has become almost comatose. Sitting at the computer, moving only to visit the toilet or make a cup of tea does not make for a healthy lifestyle, especially when the only other exercise I now get (having stopped working in the pub where at least I was walking a lot) is the stroll to and from the bus stop on work days. It is abundantly clear that changes need to be made before I either turn into one of those people in the freaky dieting shows on the telly or die of some nasty weight/unfitness related illness.

To this end I have joined a gym to improve my fitness and am about to embark on the latest attempt to lose weight through a new eating regime (I don’t want to say the ‘D’ word as I think it’s rather negative). As I chronicle my journey to greater fitness, better health and weight loss there will be daily posts as I think this will help to keep me focussed and hopefully help me to stick to the plan during the bad times I know lie ahead. I intend it to be honest as I need to acknowledge my weaknesses and fails as well as my good progress, which could be painful, but will hopefully, eventually be cathartic and helpful.

Monday, 2 January 2012

2 January 2012


I did manage to get to the gym this morning, although being honest it was about four hours later than I’d originally anticipated which meant that I didn’t have a chance to go shopping as I had a lunch engagement. Of course the gym was hugely busy – probably the busiest I’ve ever seen it and there were plenty of new recruits starting with their new year’s resolutions to get fit. I wonder how many of them will still be coming by Easter?

Imagine my excitement when standing on the scales to discover that not only did I not put on any weight over the last couple of weeks, but I had in fact lost another two pounds. This is amazing considering I haven’t stuck to the low carbing at all (as expected), although maybe not such a huge surprise that I didn’t gain weight, as whilst everything was carby, my portions weren’t massive (I even missed several meals) and with the exception of a hugely alcohol-fuelled New Years Eve I’ve not overdone either food or drink. Even chocolate was kept pretty much to a minimum (and I turned down the opportunity to bring home Christmas chocolates).

Although I did still (out of habit mainly) keep a note of everything I ate over the Christmas period I’m not worrying too hard about recording it on Fitday for the time being. I may put it on there eventually for completeness, but I’m not sure it’ll add anything except stress me out about the amount of carbs I actually consumed and it wouldn’t be accurate as portion sizes would all be guesswork – so pretty much useless for real comparison.

I did realise pretty quickly just how much better I feel without all the carbs. All those horrid body effects such as bloating, wind and indigestion that I’m pretty much free of whilst low carbing returned and it wasn’t pleasant. In fact there were a few days when I felt pretty rough which may have been caused by my diet, although obviously I can’t be sure of that.

And so today, although it is now the new year, I am still on holiday and, because I was eating with friends who had prepared a meal (containing carbs of course) I am not worrying about today’s food either. Tomorrow, which is still a leave day for me I will get up, go to the gym and then go shopping. The low carbing will then resume with a vengeance.

The one resolution I have made is that I’m not going to worry too hard about going just over the 30 gram carb limit. Whilst I obviously want to keep my carbs as low as possible I also want a nice variety of food and that will necessarily include the higher carb ingredients such as butternut squash and leeks and with a potentially difficult year ahead I don’t want to spend my time worrying about what extra carbs are going to do to my weight. I guess this means that weight loss could take a little more time, but with the amount I still have to lose I’m in it for the marathon, not the 100 metre dash and so a few extra weeks or months isn’t going to make much difference.  

Today’s exercise:  Bike = 10 mins; Treadmill/weights = 10 mins; Cross Trainer = 10 mins;  Arm bike = 16 mins; Bike = 10 mins; Swimming = 40 lengths
Carb's Eaten: No idea as I’m not counting today!
Exercising to: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling read by Stephen Fry (UK Edition) – yep still! / Various swim tracks
Weight Loss in 2012 = 2 pounds
Total Weight Loss = 2 stone 2 pounds
Inch Loss = 12.5 inches (not sure why I’m bothering with this to be honest as I can never be bothered to do it!)
Current Goal: To wear my M&S ‘magic’ dress (size 22) (hopefully by Easter)
Mood (according to Moodscope): 39%
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