I finally got to set of scales:

80.4 kg = 177 lbs = 12 stone 9 lbs and 25% body fat.

The 25 is important – 25% and over body fat is one clinical definition of obese. So if I keep going I will soon be un-obese for the first time in years.

I have eased off the effort the last couple of weeks but I hope to get back on this week.

As a matter of interest I walked with a 15 kg rucsac the other day. It felt hard, I felt like I was lumbering, I felt slow and plodding. Somewhat shocking then that is similar to the weight I have lost since Christmas! No wonder I was feeling a bit slow then!

I still have another 10 kilos I’d like to lose – I can’t wait to feel how easy walking and running will be then!

Just had a weekend in the mountains, and rather than risk feeling faint from hunger miles from humanity, I let myself go. Nothing massive just a bit of junk here and there.

Sadly I’m nowhere near any scales so I can’t assess the impact. On the plus side I’ve done plenty of tiring exercise, on the downside I ate a bunch of crisps and chocolate and junk. In the absence of any evidence I guess I’ll have to call it a draw.

I’m back to the strict diet now though with even more determination I was shocked at how hard the skiing was – and I’m still 10kg/22lbs over what I used to be the last time I skied. I can still feel that extra load in my calves and thighs. I’ll probably still be aching next weekend.

It was good fun though – well worth the effort before and the pain after (assuming that ends in the next day or two!

Sorry for not posting for so long – hardly the 2-3 posts per week I initially had in mind..

Anyway my normal reason for not posting is not wanting to remind myself how poorly things are going. But this time that is not the case.

I havent weighed myself for a few days but I reckon I am probably around

81 kg = 179 lbs = 12 stone 11 lbs

Which is a decent loss from my Christmas highs of over

91 kg = 201 lbs = 14 stone 5 lbs

!!

(I havent done my fat measurements for a while – I’ll update when I get chance)

The best thing of all though is that I feel on a roll. I have no (well not too much ) desire to eat the sort of crap that got me in this state.

Not only that but I have been out running a few times – The difference from trying to run carring 10 kilos more is just what you would expect if you picked up a 4 year old child and carted them round with you, then put them down and tried again.

No big secrets or tricks – I am just eating a lot less, and mainly fruit, and doing a minimum of 1 hour of some sort of exercise (Walking/running mainly).

Thats the physical, they key is the motivational though. I’m working away at the moment so I have lots of free time and few temptations. I am also planning to do some skiing this winter and I know I’ll enjoy that so much more if I’m not carrying a rucksacs worth of lard. (Weight limit on the plane in 20kg in the hold – I was 20 kg over my healthy weight!). I do have the odd night off. I have promised myself a few treats if I manage to keep going, though this has never really worked in the past. Being in a hotel without room service (and not near a 24 hr garage) all week is probably the biggest factor!

I feel pretty confident that I can keep this up for another few weeks, if not longer and so that dim distant memory of sub 80kg may be a reality soon. Yahoo!

If that ends up being two years later than planned thats still more on schedule than some of my other projects.

If you are having the same battles then stick with it – I feel loads better for losing some fat.

My efforts in reducing my body fat are directly proportional to my efforts with this blog.

That means both have been floundering for months.

I havent even weighed myself for months, I know its not a disaster as I can still get in my ‘big’ clothes. But there has been a marked lack of progress.

I have been under some pressure at work (as usual), but actually this week I feel like I may have turned a corner on that front. I’m clearly a typical single task bloke, I’m just hoping fairly soon that single task can be focussing on health and fitness and working.

The crap summer didn’t help either (thats how fragile my weight management is!)

I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Sorry things have been quiet I have been under pressure at work.

Which also explains why I havent focused on losing fat, which also explains why I havent. In fact I’m pleased not to have put a load of weight on.

I am hoping to pick things up in the next week or 2.

A mixed bag over the last week, but overall good news.

I scraped in at 87 kg ( 192 lbs, 13 stone 10 lbs) this morning.

Overall since I started this blog that is a net loss of zero, which is not overly impressive. But its a kilo lost in the last week which is a result. Having seen 90 kg on the scales getting back to 87 is a relief. And I feel noticeably better.

Most importantly I think I have got into a half decent habits the last few weeks so I’m mildly confident I can continue.

Best wait till next weeks results though to be sure.

I’m still here, still as fat as ever!

I’ve had a mixed few weeks, but am rapidly coming to the conclusion that obsessive is not working for me anymore. It works well for a week or so, but is unsustainable, and the rebound puts me back where I started or worse.

I have started doing some sports coaching, which whilst it isn’t much physical effort itself seems to be keeping me focused on healthy/sensible eating.

I am doing a bit of exercise too, but niggling injuries are slowing me down quite a bit.

I’m currently at: 88 kg ( 194 lbs, 13 stone 12 lbs) which is worse than a month ago, but better than a week ago.

This weekend we have a visit to the parents – always a healthy eating nightmare. They will have all kinds of junk, supposedly ‘for the kids’ but the adults will waste no time in tucking in either. A true test of my resolve! although it may be easier just to go with the flow for the day and pick things up again next week.

I always fear days off, my experience has been the minute I back off and relax for a day I rarely get back to healthy eating. what about you?

Summer time just started for us – now its light enough to go out and do something active right up till gone 8pm.

There goes that excuse!

I should be able to get out for a ride after the kids have gone to bed from now until autumn. Assuming I can clear up a couple of niggling injuries.

In much of the health debate the focus is on food. References to exercise are vacuous at best.

What they conveniently ignore is the weather and the seasons. In the UK we get a lot of rain. Thats great for some sports but for many its a major turn off. In our winter its dark by 4pm, so any winter activity will need some sort of lighting.

Whilst the government glibly tells us we need 5 sessions of 30 minutes of moderate activity a week to stay healthy, they show no signs of making that realistically possible.

My kids play football on a floodlit ‘all weather pitch’. So far this winter their training has been cancelled 3 times because of the rain, and twice because of frost. Hardly all weather!

I don’t know where the nearest covered venue is, but I can see unless we get more proper weather proof venues the general health of the nation is likely to decline even further.

One option to help with the lighting issue might be to insist companies give staff a 2 hour break during the day to get out and be active. In fairness most places I have worked didn’t care how long we took for dinner as long as we made the time up and the work got done.

For the last few years I have noticed I have made a significant ‘get fit’ effort in the spring, pretty much as soon as the clocks change (next week for us).

Do you think weather is a factor in health/fatness?

Not sure quite what has changed, but for weeks (/months) my exercising has been a bit of a slog. Quite pleasant, but easy to avoid.

Yesterday and today I have done longer sessions and have come back buzzing each time. I’m up to about 15 minutes running and about 40 minutes biking. One possible difference is I am doing them back to back, I go for a run, then jump straight on my bike after. It ends up as not far off a full hour of decent intensity aerobic exercise. I tried it the other way round – ride then run, the run nearly killed me. As riding is easier it makes sense to do that when I’m tired after the run.

I assume something has happened to get the ‘runners high’ to kick in, but the main thing is its a great feeling and I’m hoping I can use it to encourage me out on those dark dreary days. I suspect it is the length of session that gets the endorphins going. I don’t think I could do long enough in any one activity, but combining them seems to work well – lets see what happens tomorrow.

Yesterday I rode to the woods, hid my bike then went for a run. This worked great until I couldn’t find my bike after the run. Predictable of course, I found it eventually, I’ll need to be a little smarter next time!

I’m not worrying about food, just trying to not go daft. We are on holidays for a few days soon though and generally that kills any thought of sensible eating.