I've noticed some stumbling blocks on the way to my goal of losing a stone before my work's Christmas party. I know, I know the excuses are coming out already, but it's true. This weekend is going to be a nightmare diet wise.
It is both of my son's Birthdays. Andrew is 1 on Sunday and Benjamin is 2 on Monday which has brought about 4 chances for me to ruin my diet. On Sunday lunchtime we are having a party with their friends and cousins, so a children's party with jelly and ice cream. Sunday night is a party with the extended family, so cheesecake and cocktail sausages. Ben is having a bike and Andrew is having a trike so there's a chance for me to run around with them and burn off a few calories before going to the German Market in Birmingham on Monday afternoon and stuffing myself with Bratwurst and Gluhwein. The weekend is then rounded off Monday night when we are going out for a Birthday meal.
Before all of that though, the worst (or best depending on perspective) is that I'm going to the BBC Good Food show at the NEC on Saturday. The finest food this country has to offer in one place with free samples; this to me is Jannah and Jahannam rolled into one, but with pork sausages. I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell of this next week.
Then there are various things ahead such as a night out with the Karate gang, various visits to and from friends and family, and stollen for sale everywhere.
This week has been steady, lost another 2lbs so that's now 6lbs towards my target. I haven't been to the gym this week though, well I went there but ended up going into the spa instead.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Increased activity
My challenge to myself to lose a stone before the Christmas party is heading in the right direction. I've lost another 2lbs this week making it 4 in total since I started the challenge 2 weeks ago. I need to lose a little quicker if I'm to meet the target but I'll take it.
I've often wondered about why I put on weight when I have had a bad but not excessive week. If I eat between 2500-3000 calories a week I should stay the same weight but it never seems to work like that. I broached this subject with the personal trainer at the gym to see what he could suggest. Apart from my trips to the gym and Karate my activity level is equivalent to that of the Welsh space program. I work at a desk, I drive to work, I do like to get out rather than sit around but that's not enough. He suggested that I need to find ways to increase my activity level every day.
I have a lot on so finding time everyday is a struggle but he suggested doing 20 minutes in the morning and in the evening. He suggested by upping my activity level I could increase my calorie burn (metabolism) significantly.
One of the lads at Karate was telling me how he lost 5 stone this year, he said that apart from eating properly he did 50 press-ups every morning and every evening. He was telling me this when we were meant to be quiet, we got caught and given 50 press-ups funnily enough. After my second attempt at the first of those 50 press-ups I realised I would find this quite hard to do everyday but I soldiered on and managed to look like I did 50 press-ups. I'm going to give it a go though and see what I can do.
I've often wondered about why I put on weight when I have had a bad but not excessive week. If I eat between 2500-3000 calories a week I should stay the same weight but it never seems to work like that. I broached this subject with the personal trainer at the gym to see what he could suggest. Apart from my trips to the gym and Karate my activity level is equivalent to that of the Welsh space program. I work at a desk, I drive to work, I do like to get out rather than sit around but that's not enough. He suggested that I need to find ways to increase my activity level every day.
I have a lot on so finding time everyday is a struggle but he suggested doing 20 minutes in the morning and in the evening. He suggested by upping my activity level I could increase my calorie burn (metabolism) significantly.
One of the lads at Karate was telling me how he lost 5 stone this year, he said that apart from eating properly he did 50 press-ups every morning and every evening. He was telling me this when we were meant to be quiet, we got caught and given 50 press-ups funnily enough. After my second attempt at the first of those 50 press-ups I realised I would find this quite hard to do everyday but I soldiered on and managed to look like I did 50 press-ups. I'm going to give it a go though and see what I can do.
Monday, 23 November 2009
No sleep 'til Christmas
This is it, no more distractions until Christmas, or the Christmas party at least. That's about 5 weeks of very strict dieting. I won't be having the occasional night off that turns into the week off or having a dessert that doesn't fit into my daily calorie allowance, from now on there's no let up.
My recent surges of enthusiasm have yielded quick results, but they've soon petered out and the gains are lost or at least reduced. Obviously this is better than putting on weight, but it's not what I want. It's been quite embarrassing writing a column such as the one I did a few weeks ago about how I've got this new found enthusiasm only to have lost it by the time people read the column and talk to me about it. I sound like David Cameron; what I say sounds good and positive but the words are pretty empty.
My latest strategy is to set dates to aim for; the office Christmas party is 19th December. The party usually consists of eating and drinking as much as possible being as the boss is paying, so I think this is a good date to aim for. I'll go back to logging all my food online; when I first stopped being strict about doing this I started to become more careless with what I ate.
I know you've heard it all before but so far this week has gone really well. I've kept well below my daily calorie limit and I've got back on the the cross trainer at the gym, even beating my record distance of 4km in 17 minutes. I'm going to set the target high, I want to lose another stone by the Christmas party; it's a tall order but I'm taller.
My recent surges of enthusiasm have yielded quick results, but they've soon petered out and the gains are lost or at least reduced. Obviously this is better than putting on weight, but it's not what I want. It's been quite embarrassing writing a column such as the one I did a few weeks ago about how I've got this new found enthusiasm only to have lost it by the time people read the column and talk to me about it. I sound like David Cameron; what I say sounds good and positive but the words are pretty empty.
My latest strategy is to set dates to aim for; the office Christmas party is 19th December. The party usually consists of eating and drinking as much as possible being as the boss is paying, so I think this is a good date to aim for. I'll go back to logging all my food online; when I first stopped being strict about doing this I started to become more careless with what I ate.
I know you've heard it all before but so far this week has gone really well. I've kept well below my daily calorie limit and I've got back on the the cross trainer at the gym, even beating my record distance of 4km in 17 minutes. I'm going to set the target high, I want to lose another stone by the Christmas party; it's a tall order but I'm taller.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Bang goes the diet
I love autumn, the scarlet and golden leaves scattered beneath the clear blue sky with the bite of the fresh cold air. I look forward to the seasonal parties around this time of year; in the last couple of weeks we've had a Halloween party and this week we went to a couple of bonfire parties.
We tend to go to see fireworks round other people's houses rather than organised ones. It's a good way of getting together with friends and family but best of all there's normally loads of food and it's free. Christmas is the excuse used by the supposedly tee-total to have a tipple; for me, bonfire night is the excuse for dieters to become salad-dodgers again for the night.
Anything goes tonight, except tinned hot-dogs. Dieting means that I read the labels and I have found out what they're made of, go on, have a guess. The answer is chicken, but not chicken as we know it, mechanically-recovered chicken, don't look it up if you're squeamish; it's meat residue blasted off the carcass. The burgers, sausages, pizza, soup, curry, chilli etc were all fair game and I would have my share as well as someone else's.
I'm well aware that a couple of episodes of bonfire-night binge-eating can have lasting affects on diets. They should perhaps put up posters warning of the dangers of this next to the ones illustrating the dangers of fireworks with a picture of a scarred child. It could have a picture of a sad looking fat man holding a burger and a sparkler pointing at the stretch marks on his belly.
I made sure that I visited the gym and cut down on my other meals to mitigate the damage but I'm still not going to weigh myself this week.
We tend to go to see fireworks round other people's houses rather than organised ones. It's a good way of getting together with friends and family but best of all there's normally loads of food and it's free. Christmas is the excuse used by the supposedly tee-total to have a tipple; for me, bonfire night is the excuse for dieters to become salad-dodgers again for the night.
Anything goes tonight, except tinned hot-dogs. Dieting means that I read the labels and I have found out what they're made of, go on, have a guess. The answer is chicken, but not chicken as we know it, mechanically-recovered chicken, don't look it up if you're squeamish; it's meat residue blasted off the carcass. The burgers, sausages, pizza, soup, curry, chilli etc were all fair game and I would have my share as well as someone else's.
I'm well aware that a couple of episodes of bonfire-night binge-eating can have lasting affects on diets. They should perhaps put up posters warning of the dangers of this next to the ones illustrating the dangers of fireworks with a picture of a scarred child. It could have a picture of a sad looking fat man holding a burger and a sparkler pointing at the stretch marks on his belly.
I made sure that I visited the gym and cut down on my other meals to mitigate the damage but I'm still not going to weigh myself this week.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Karate man
I've got the eating side of the diet back on track but it's now the exercise bit I need to get in order. A trip to the gym used to consist of 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise and 20 minutes on the weights. It is now 5 minutes on the rowing machines, 20 minutes of weights and then 20 minutes punching punch bags. It's not too bad but not enough to improve my fitness, plus I'm going once a week currently as oppose to 3 times previously.
I'm still keeping the karate up though. This week I had my first grading session and my lack of fitness showed through. I had to do 20+ kicks in a row, each one had to be right, my technique started to wain the more out of breath that I got. I did pass in the end thankfully but the new belt only just gets around my waist. I walked out with it thinking no one will mess with me now, although this was due to all the sweat pouring off me.
I have another belt that needs replacing also. It seems that although over the previous few weeks I wasn't losing any weight, my waist has got a little smaller. My jeans belt is a little too big for me so my jeans keep falling down; if you see me in the back of a police car this week, you'll know why. I think this is down to me gaining more muscle as I lose the fat. 2 hours of karate a week plus practice is really changing my physique, I stand upright, I'm a lot more flexible, my balance has improved 100% and I have really noticed my muscle building-up; it's still wrapped up in fat like a fleshy Christmas present though. It would be nice to have it unwrapped for Christmas, unlikely but I'll do my best.
I'm still keeping the karate up though. This week I had my first grading session and my lack of fitness showed through. I had to do 20+ kicks in a row, each one had to be right, my technique started to wain the more out of breath that I got. I did pass in the end thankfully but the new belt only just gets around my waist. I walked out with it thinking no one will mess with me now, although this was due to all the sweat pouring off me.
I have another belt that needs replacing also. It seems that although over the previous few weeks I wasn't losing any weight, my waist has got a little smaller. My jeans belt is a little too big for me so my jeans keep falling down; if you see me in the back of a police car this week, you'll know why. I think this is down to me gaining more muscle as I lose the fat. 2 hours of karate a week plus practice is really changing my physique, I stand upright, I'm a lot more flexible, my balance has improved 100% and I have really noticed my muscle building-up; it's still wrapped up in fat like a fleshy Christmas present though. It would be nice to have it unwrapped for Christmas, unlikely but I'll do my best.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
The death of a diet
This is the story of how my diet died. In the past when diets have failed, I haven't just woken up one morning and decided to give up. It's normally one of two things. The first is an event when the diet is pushed aside for the night, such as works night out, a wedding or christmas party. This would lead to other nights off shortly after eventually leading to having every night off. The other is a slow unravelling of the diet where I'm still eating the right meals but I gradually start snacking more and more in-between meals until I'm eating so much I can no longer say i'm on a diet.
I've been affected by both of these. After my wife's birthday party I spent the week picking bits of the leftover cake and buffet. When that ran out it was anything I could find in the cupboard, baby biscuits, curry paste, hot sauce, anything I could put on my tongue and taste. I had started putting on weight again. Shortly after, I went to a christening, rammed the buffet down my throat without any thought to my diet. It was then I realised that my diet had ended.
As I left the reception a cold wind blew against me and I pulled my suit jacket together to shield me. This suit gets worn 2-3 times per year for Christenings, Funerals and Weddings. The last time I had worn it was for my youngest son, Andrew's, baptism earlier this year. When I pulled the jacket together it wrapped right around me. There have been times when I have grown too fat for this suit but now it was too big for me. I was on the verge of giving up but now I could see how much weight I'd lost. The signs to say my diet had failed were all there, but I didn't have to accept this was the end. I had to start again, properly this time.
The next morning my diet was reborn, and today five days later I've already lost 4 pounds.
I've been affected by both of these. After my wife's birthday party I spent the week picking bits of the leftover cake and buffet. When that ran out it was anything I could find in the cupboard, baby biscuits, curry paste, hot sauce, anything I could put on my tongue and taste. I had started putting on weight again. Shortly after, I went to a christening, rammed the buffet down my throat without any thought to my diet. It was then I realised that my diet had ended.
As I left the reception a cold wind blew against me and I pulled my suit jacket together to shield me. This suit gets worn 2-3 times per year for Christenings, Funerals and Weddings. The last time I had worn it was for my youngest son, Andrew's, baptism earlier this year. When I pulled the jacket together it wrapped right around me. There have been times when I have grown too fat for this suit but now it was too big for me. I was on the verge of giving up but now I could see how much weight I'd lost. The signs to say my diet had failed were all there, but I didn't have to accept this was the end. I had to start again, properly this time.
The next morning my diet was reborn, and today five days later I've already lost 4 pounds.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Not my fault
Another week passes and I've put on 2 pounds, what's that all about? There's got to be some sort of conspiracy against me losing weight. Perhaps the shops that sell clothes for larger men are feeling the effects of losing my business and have got together to ruin my diet, I wouldn't put it past them.
I think they've been going around subsidising all the high-calorie food in the supermarkets as there seems to be bargains everywhere at the moment, mainly on cakes, puddings, sausages and bacon. I'm a sucker for a bargain, if it's half-price, I'll have it. Even if something's of no use, I'll get it anyway just in case. It always ends up in the cupboard alongside the betamax video-recorder I bought last year.
I spotted some pots au chocolat at half-price, they weren't just any pots au chocolat, they were... well you know the rest. I picked them up hoping that they were 50 calories each; unfortunately they were more like 400. I gestured to put it back hoping that my wife would come up with an excuse to keep them; she reminded me what a bargain they were and they went straight back in the trolley, so it's her fault not mine.
I've started to pick at food again. My success so far has been sticking to meals and having nothing in between. There's been leftover Birthday cake lying around the house this week taunting me, I'm always finding excuses to walk past so I can pick off a bit more icing.
When things haven't turned out as I'd like them to, I tend to feel that it wasn't my fault, after-all, I tried hard to make it go right. When I think about it though, i notice that I'm shifting the blame, it's not my wife's fault and there isn't a conspiracy against me; I'm making the errors, I need to learn from them or I'll never lose the weight.
I think they've been going around subsidising all the high-calorie food in the supermarkets as there seems to be bargains everywhere at the moment, mainly on cakes, puddings, sausages and bacon. I'm a sucker for a bargain, if it's half-price, I'll have it. Even if something's of no use, I'll get it anyway just in case. It always ends up in the cupboard alongside the betamax video-recorder I bought last year.
I spotted some pots au chocolat at half-price, they weren't just any pots au chocolat, they were... well you know the rest. I picked them up hoping that they were 50 calories each; unfortunately they were more like 400. I gestured to put it back hoping that my wife would come up with an excuse to keep them; she reminded me what a bargain they were and they went straight back in the trolley, so it's her fault not mine.
I've started to pick at food again. My success so far has been sticking to meals and having nothing in between. There's been leftover Birthday cake lying around the house this week taunting me, I'm always finding excuses to walk past so I can pick off a bit more icing.
When things haven't turned out as I'd like them to, I tend to feel that it wasn't my fault, after-all, I tried hard to make it go right. When I think about it though, i notice that I'm shifting the blame, it's not my wife's fault and there isn't a conspiracy against me; I'm making the errors, I need to learn from them or I'll never lose the weight.
Friday, 16 October 2009
You're being watched!
I haven't lost anything this week, I hate it when that happens. It's a real de-motivator, putting in all the effort for no benefit. I've even had an illness to help me. Losing weight used to be the best part of being ill, well, second best after time off work, but no, nothing, I should have taken the medicine after all.
I suppose the reason is that I spent a lot of time sat around or in bed not getting any exercise. I missed karate and haven't been to the gym. I've been avoiding the gym anyway, one of the instructors found out about this blog and has decided to help me out with my diet. He asked when I was next in and said he'd get me doing some circuits with him. Great, I said, and haven't been back since. I'm going to have to find out his shift patterns and avoid him, or I could plant something incriminating in his locker so he gets the sack and I can start going back again.
It seems quite a few people read these diet diaries, and those people always seem to be around when I'm about to eat something. We had a party for my wife's 30th Birthday. I took on my usual duty of being first to the buffet, and almost straight-away the words "I'm watching you!" thundered accross the room, as I looked round I was confronted by one of my wife's friends laughing away telling me she'd seen me in the paper. I sat down with my plate and just as I went to have my first mouthful another voice shouted, "I hope that's all you're having!". If everyone carried out their threats, the Herald mailbag will be full this week. I'm going to have to open my version of the 19th century opium dens; a calorie den for the overweight of Tamworth. As the night passed, my cares evaporated with my sobriety. And now as the night's memories rematerialise, I realise why I didn't lose anything this week.
I suppose the reason is that I spent a lot of time sat around or in bed not getting any exercise. I missed karate and haven't been to the gym. I've been avoiding the gym anyway, one of the instructors found out about this blog and has decided to help me out with my diet. He asked when I was next in and said he'd get me doing some circuits with him. Great, I said, and haven't been back since. I'm going to have to find out his shift patterns and avoid him, or I could plant something incriminating in his locker so he gets the sack and I can start going back again.
It seems quite a few people read these diet diaries, and those people always seem to be around when I'm about to eat something. We had a party for my wife's 30th Birthday. I took on my usual duty of being first to the buffet, and almost straight-away the words "I'm watching you!" thundered accross the room, as I looked round I was confronted by one of my wife's friends laughing away telling me she'd seen me in the paper. I sat down with my plate and just as I went to have my first mouthful another voice shouted, "I hope that's all you're having!". If everyone carried out their threats, the Herald mailbag will be full this week. I'm going to have to open my version of the 19th century opium dens; a calorie den for the overweight of Tamworth. As the night passed, my cares evaporated with my sobriety. And now as the night's memories rematerialise, I realise why I didn't lose anything this week.
Monday, 12 October 2009
Not so great expectations
From 8th October
I've just about shifted the half-stone I added to my bulk on holiday. It's good to know my efforts are still having the desired benefit but 4 months in, I've got a more realisitic outlook on my weightloss prospects than before.
My wife showed me one of those reality TV programmes that make a big thing about how you should be happy with the way you are and then spend the rest of the programme changing the contestants into something else; "love your curves, now let's get rid of them!". A bloke a little bigger than me lost 10 stone in 3 months and looked really good, it was this that inspired me to start dieting this time.
I should've been mindful that the TV world isn't real, he'd have been given a lot of training and support, all I get is an occasional email from the Herald editor saying "stop stuffing your ******* face!" (not really). I saw a pair of jeans in a sale that were about 8 inches too small for me and I almost bought them thinking it would be only 3 months until I fitted into them.
I got carried away thinking about how my life would change; I imagined my meeting with the Queen as she knighted me for my weightloss achievements, I thought about what recipe I would give her in return, would it be my Lamb Biryani or Roast Chicken Ratatouille? I would get back to my country mansion, paid for by the range of diet foods I would release with my stupid grinning thin face on the label, and put the medal on the fireplace next to my United Nations slimmer of the year award. I was disappointed when I realised that this wasn't very realistic.
I am now well aware and reasonably happy that it's going to take a little longer than I'd anticipated, anyway, by the time I reach my goal I should have more recipes to consider offering the Queen.
I've just about shifted the half-stone I added to my bulk on holiday. It's good to know my efforts are still having the desired benefit but 4 months in, I've got a more realisitic outlook on my weightloss prospects than before.
My wife showed me one of those reality TV programmes that make a big thing about how you should be happy with the way you are and then spend the rest of the programme changing the contestants into something else; "love your curves, now let's get rid of them!". A bloke a little bigger than me lost 10 stone in 3 months and looked really good, it was this that inspired me to start dieting this time.
I should've been mindful that the TV world isn't real, he'd have been given a lot of training and support, all I get is an occasional email from the Herald editor saying "stop stuffing your ******* face!" (not really). I saw a pair of jeans in a sale that were about 8 inches too small for me and I almost bought them thinking it would be only 3 months until I fitted into them.
I got carried away thinking about how my life would change; I imagined my meeting with the Queen as she knighted me for my weightloss achievements, I thought about what recipe I would give her in return, would it be my Lamb Biryani or Roast Chicken Ratatouille? I would get back to my country mansion, paid for by the range of diet foods I would release with my stupid grinning thin face on the label, and put the medal on the fireplace next to my United Nations slimmer of the year award. I was disappointed when I realised that this wasn't very realistic.
I am now well aware and reasonably happy that it's going to take a little longer than I'd anticipated, anyway, by the time I reach my goal I should have more recipes to consider offering the Queen.
Going out
From 1st October
Going out while watching the calories is a pain as you always feel you must either go for the salad or give the diet a night off. I like to go out for dinner a couple of times a week so these options aren't any good for me. There is a third way, all it needs is a bit of planning.
Most of the bigger chain restaurants print the calorie content of their meals online. I do realise that the chains aren't the most desirable of dinner destinations but they do have the advantage of guaranteed-mediocrity; you'll never get that fantastic meal you have to tell everyone about, but you know it won't be terrible and that's a big plus when you're with fussy eaters.
Before I go I always have a good look at the nutritional values on the menu and see what I can have. Surprisingly, you can have most things on most menus on their own but when you start adding starters and desserts you're in trouble. On the day I will make sure I leave enough spare calories to have what I want, I may skip breakfast or have a small lunch.
This week I went to a Pizza restaurant, I went for thin crust, less meat and cheese toppings, and more veg. I had a proscuitto and rocket pizza that had 900 calories, a chicken wing starter with 350, and no pudding, so 1250 in total. My daily limit is 2050 leaving me with 800 for breakfast and lunch, easy.
I also went to a carvery, I had gammon and loads of veg, easy on the roast potatoes and gravy. No more than 500 calories. Ice cream sundae for pudding, 400 calories. 900 in total so 1100 for breakfast and lunch, I could have had a starter as well.
It's quite easy with a bit of planning, it's when you go in blind and start having to choose between what you perceive as good and bad foods that it falls apart.
Going out while watching the calories is a pain as you always feel you must either go for the salad or give the diet a night off. I like to go out for dinner a couple of times a week so these options aren't any good for me. There is a third way, all it needs is a bit of planning.
Most of the bigger chain restaurants print the calorie content of their meals online. I do realise that the chains aren't the most desirable of dinner destinations but they do have the advantage of guaranteed-mediocrity; you'll never get that fantastic meal you have to tell everyone about, but you know it won't be terrible and that's a big plus when you're with fussy eaters.
Before I go I always have a good look at the nutritional values on the menu and see what I can have. Surprisingly, you can have most things on most menus on their own but when you start adding starters and desserts you're in trouble. On the day I will make sure I leave enough spare calories to have what I want, I may skip breakfast or have a small lunch.
This week I went to a Pizza restaurant, I went for thin crust, less meat and cheese toppings, and more veg. I had a proscuitto and rocket pizza that had 900 calories, a chicken wing starter with 350, and no pudding, so 1250 in total. My daily limit is 2050 leaving me with 800 for breakfast and lunch, easy.
I also went to a carvery, I had gammon and loads of veg, easy on the roast potatoes and gravy. No more than 500 calories. Ice cream sundae for pudding, 400 calories. 900 in total so 1100 for breakfast and lunch, I could have had a starter as well.
It's quite easy with a bit of planning, it's when you go in blind and start having to choose between what you perceive as good and bad foods that it falls apart.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Sugarholics Anonymous
My name's Paul and I'm a sugarholic. I've come to sugarholics anonymous today because as I get back into my diet after my holiday I've noticed that I'm craving sweet items. I can normally take or leave chocolate and cakes. My sugar intake on holiday was a lot higher than usual, mainly due to the delicious cakes in the French patisseries. I'm now convinced that sugar and carbohydrates in general are actually addictive.
I noticed this first when I did the Atkins diet years back. On that diet your daily carbohydrate limit is so low that chocolate and sweets are effectively banned. When I first started the Atkins I went through a carb cold turkey, as I stopped the carbs I craved them more and more until one day the craving just went.
When you get your carb fix, you feel full up and your blood sugar peaks. It seems to me that when your blood sugar level starts to drop (the come down) you start craving more carbs again (another fix) to recapture that high. I noticed that high-carb breakfast cereals that are meant to keep your hunger locked up until lunch didn't, and I started craving carbs and getting hunger pangs by mid-morning. Avoiding carbs at breakfast stopped this and made it easier to avoid carb-rich snacks throughout the day.
I'm not saying avoid all carbs, as a balanced diet should have them, I'm saying avoid high-carb foods, go cold turkey. No biscuits, chocolate, sugar, high-carb breakfasts (try protein) etc Try it for a few days and wonder at how you suddenly stop craving them and regain control over your eating habits.
I'm going cold-turkey now, I see carbs wherever I look. My boss's face is a chocolate chip cookie, as oppose to the punch-bag I usually see it as, my mouse is now a cheesecake slice, and my keyboard a dairy milk slab. That is my story, with your help I'll get through this. Thank you for listening.
I noticed this first when I did the Atkins diet years back. On that diet your daily carbohydrate limit is so low that chocolate and sweets are effectively banned. When I first started the Atkins I went through a carb cold turkey, as I stopped the carbs I craved them more and more until one day the craving just went.
When you get your carb fix, you feel full up and your blood sugar peaks. It seems to me that when your blood sugar level starts to drop (the come down) you start craving more carbs again (another fix) to recapture that high. I noticed that high-carb breakfast cereals that are meant to keep your hunger locked up until lunch didn't, and I started craving carbs and getting hunger pangs by mid-morning. Avoiding carbs at breakfast stopped this and made it easier to avoid carb-rich snacks throughout the day.
I'm not saying avoid all carbs, as a balanced diet should have them, I'm saying avoid high-carb foods, go cold turkey. No biscuits, chocolate, sugar, high-carb breakfasts (try protein) etc Try it for a few days and wonder at how you suddenly stop craving them and regain control over your eating habits.
I'm going cold-turkey now, I see carbs wherever I look. My boss's face is a chocolate chip cookie, as oppose to the punch-bag I usually see it as, my mouse is now a cheesecake slice, and my keyboard a dairy milk slab. That is my story, with your help I'll get through this. Thank you for listening.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Summer Holiday Blues
The annual summer holiday presents a dilemma to those that diet. Do you loosen the rules a bit by remaining sensible but occasionally having the odd luxury? Do you stick rigidly to your daily allowance of calories? Or do you forget about diets for the week and tuck in?
Loosening the rules will mean you’ll spend the holiday checking your calories and seeing that the odd indulgence is sending you over your daily limit. You’ll end up spending the holiday feeling guilty about everything you eat so not a good way to spend the week.
Sticking to the diet rigidly is a good approach, after-all, a diet should be a change of lifestyle rather than a temporary reduction of your food intake if you want it to work, so to keep going while on holiday is a good way of cementing this new way of living.
You’re on holiday though, it only comes around once a year, this can be the excuse you need to fill your face until you can eat no more. It’s outside of your daily routine so as long as you get straight back on it when you come back you should be fine.
Those of you that have read my previous columns can probably guess which approach I took, you can’t go to France and diet.
Every day started with a continental breakfast; croissants, French bread, smoked ham, salami and fresh orange juice.
We’d go out sightseeing some days and have lunch at one of the many cafes. It normally consisted of omelette as I know the French word for omelette. There was always time to pop to a patisserie for the most amazing cakes of a quality that you wouldn’t get in the chain-store bakeries of England.
The other days involved cycling with a packed lunch of ham sandwiches and crisps.
All of this contributed to me arriving home with an upset stomach and an extra half-stone of weight that my new scales kindly informed me of upon arrival. I’ve got to get round to undoing all of this now.
Loosening the rules will mean you’ll spend the holiday checking your calories and seeing that the odd indulgence is sending you over your daily limit. You’ll end up spending the holiday feeling guilty about everything you eat so not a good way to spend the week.
Sticking to the diet rigidly is a good approach, after-all, a diet should be a change of lifestyle rather than a temporary reduction of your food intake if you want it to work, so to keep going while on holiday is a good way of cementing this new way of living.
You’re on holiday though, it only comes around once a year, this can be the excuse you need to fill your face until you can eat no more. It’s outside of your daily routine so as long as you get straight back on it when you come back you should be fine.
Those of you that have read my previous columns can probably guess which approach I took, you can’t go to France and diet.
Every day started with a continental breakfast; croissants, French bread, smoked ham, salami and fresh orange juice.
We’d go out sightseeing some days and have lunch at one of the many cafes. It normally consisted of omelette as I know the French word for omelette. There was always time to pop to a patisserie for the most amazing cakes of a quality that you wouldn’t get in the chain-store bakeries of England.
The other days involved cycling with a packed lunch of ham sandwiches and crisps.
All of this contributed to me arriving home with an upset stomach and an extra half-stone of weight that my new scales kindly informed me of upon arrival. I’ve got to get round to undoing all of this now.
Monday, 14 September 2009
Essay writing blues
(From 10th September)
I finally got round to replacing my scales at the weekend, it was quite scary unpacking them. I couldn't help but think about the bag of doughnuts and the doner kebab that had tempted me in the previous weeks. I felt like a cheating husband unpacking the lie detector that was going to expose his misdeeds. I laid them out in front of me, jogged on the spot for a moment to rid a couple more picograms, braced myself and stepped on very carefully so as not to skew the results of my first weigh in for a month. I looked down and was greeted with the news that I had lost 10 pounds, that is a total of just under 2 stone since I started weighing myself so probably about 3 and a bit in total, not bad eh?
The celebration didn't last long as I had to do an essay for my degree that I'd been putting off for days. I've handed every one in late this year so I couldn't do it again. There's no time to cook or prepare a meal when I'm studying so I end up picking throughout the day. This time was different though, the morning's good news was to spur me on to do the right thing. I took a break, something I rarely do when writing, and picked up a sandwich. It didn't help, I was still craving sugary snacks and it was significantly affecting my concentration. I didn't give in, if I hadn't had the good news that morning I probably would have.
I'm off on holiday to France next week. French food is too good for me to be on a diet, I've heard good things about the 'brochette de viande dans une pitta'. I wonder what kebabs are like in France?
I finally got round to replacing my scales at the weekend, it was quite scary unpacking them. I couldn't help but think about the bag of doughnuts and the doner kebab that had tempted me in the previous weeks. I felt like a cheating husband unpacking the lie detector that was going to expose his misdeeds. I laid them out in front of me, jogged on the spot for a moment to rid a couple more picograms, braced myself and stepped on very carefully so as not to skew the results of my first weigh in for a month. I looked down and was greeted with the news that I had lost 10 pounds, that is a total of just under 2 stone since I started weighing myself so probably about 3 and a bit in total, not bad eh?
The celebration didn't last long as I had to do an essay for my degree that I'd been putting off for days. I've handed every one in late this year so I couldn't do it again. There's no time to cook or prepare a meal when I'm studying so I end up picking throughout the day. This time was different though, the morning's good news was to spur me on to do the right thing. I took a break, something I rarely do when writing, and picked up a sandwich. It didn't help, I was still craving sugary snacks and it was significantly affecting my concentration. I didn't give in, if I hadn't had the good news that morning I probably would have.
I'm off on holiday to France next week. French food is too good for me to be on a diet, I've heard good things about the 'brochette de viande dans une pitta'. I wonder what kebabs are like in France?
Wax on, wax off
(From 3rd September)
I've taken a lot on recently. I'm in the 5th year of a degree with the Open University, I'm redoing my Maths GCSE, I'm learning French, I'm starting a teaching course in September, I'm writing this column, and attending the gym 3 times a week (sometimes). This is on top of a full-time job, a wife and 2 toddlers under the age of 2. The idea is that I won't have time to eat; ergo I lose weight. I call it the 'heading for a nervous-breakdown' method. I've found that I still have 2 hours on a Wednesday evening free, so I've started Karate.
My size and fitness has put me off doing it before; I'm a little trimmer and have improved my fitness this year so I gave it a go.
The instructor was very accommodating, he told me to do what I could and not worry about keeping up. I kept up for 95% of the warm-up, just being let down by my inability to do sit-ups, no issue was made of it. I was then taken aside to learn how to punch and shown a basic kick before joining the rest of the class.
It was the best workout I've ever had, I burnt 1700 calories in 2 hours; more than I had eaten all day, and enjoyed it much more than the irksome gym. I thoroughly recommend it, especially to men who find aerobics classes a bit feminine. It's aerobics with added violence, perfect!.
Benjamin, my 19 month-old, has been copying my moves and laughing when I practice at home. One of the reasons I wanted to lose weight was I didn't want my boys to be embarrassed of me. If I can do well at Karate perhaps I can give them something to brag to their friends about, "My Dad's a black-belt!". I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself though, after all, I've only been to the one lesson so-far.
I've taken a lot on recently. I'm in the 5th year of a degree with the Open University, I'm redoing my Maths GCSE, I'm learning French, I'm starting a teaching course in September, I'm writing this column, and attending the gym 3 times a week (sometimes). This is on top of a full-time job, a wife and 2 toddlers under the age of 2. The idea is that I won't have time to eat; ergo I lose weight. I call it the 'heading for a nervous-breakdown' method. I've found that I still have 2 hours on a Wednesday evening free, so I've started Karate.
My size and fitness has put me off doing it before; I'm a little trimmer and have improved my fitness this year so I gave it a go.
The instructor was very accommodating, he told me to do what I could and not worry about keeping up. I kept up for 95% of the warm-up, just being let down by my inability to do sit-ups, no issue was made of it. I was then taken aside to learn how to punch and shown a basic kick before joining the rest of the class.
It was the best workout I've ever had, I burnt 1700 calories in 2 hours; more than I had eaten all day, and enjoyed it much more than the irksome gym. I thoroughly recommend it, especially to men who find aerobics classes a bit feminine. It's aerobics with added violence, perfect!.
Benjamin, my 19 month-old, has been copying my moves and laughing when I practice at home. One of the reasons I wanted to lose weight was I didn't want my boys to be embarrassed of me. If I can do well at Karate perhaps I can give them something to brag to their friends about, "My Dad's a black-belt!". I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself though, after all, I've only been to the one lesson so-far.
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Eating less is a bit like global conflict and disaster
I've realised that I have identified a behaviour in the world of dieting, I'm calling it the climate-change model condition. It is characterised by wild fluctuations in calorie intake. Some days will see me eating close to 3000 calories, whereas others have seen me eating around 600 calories. But, despite all these peaks and troughs, my average intake is about where it should be so the trend line still points towards weight-loss.
I'm calling it this because it's a bit like climate science, stick with me folks, with the fluctuation of global temperatures. The planet goes through warm periods and cold periods but the average still increases so the trend is towards a significant change in climate.
We stand in the face of an enormous challenge, a struggle that will change our lives forever, it could feature starvation, misery, and anger, but that's a diet for you, no pain no gain.
You'll be pleased to hear that my diet is now back on track, I've got through the period of self-pity where I felt like the effort was pointless. I think whenever we go through challenges and are pushed out of our comfort zone, the flight or fight instinct shapes our behaviour. Like in war, when the fight has gone on so long and the end isn't in sight there's always the temptation to take flight and give in. As long as the goal is worthwhile and outweighs the sacrifice, we must stay on course, to give in is to punish your achievement and deny yourself what you've worked so hard towards.
To step up the fight, I've enrolled in a Karate class. I've seen the Karate Kid films so I know what to expect, I've already bought my paintbrush and car wax. According to the internet, so it must be true, you burn over 1500 calories in a 2 hour session. I'll give you a full report next week where I'll try to avoid comparing eating less to global conflict and catastrophe.
I'm calling it this because it's a bit like climate science, stick with me folks, with the fluctuation of global temperatures. The planet goes through warm periods and cold periods but the average still increases so the trend is towards a significant change in climate.
We stand in the face of an enormous challenge, a struggle that will change our lives forever, it could feature starvation, misery, and anger, but that's a diet for you, no pain no gain.
You'll be pleased to hear that my diet is now back on track, I've got through the period of self-pity where I felt like the effort was pointless. I think whenever we go through challenges and are pushed out of our comfort zone, the flight or fight instinct shapes our behaviour. Like in war, when the fight has gone on so long and the end isn't in sight there's always the temptation to take flight and give in. As long as the goal is worthwhile and outweighs the sacrifice, we must stay on course, to give in is to punish your achievement and deny yourself what you've worked so hard towards.
To step up the fight, I've enrolled in a Karate class. I've seen the Karate Kid films so I know what to expect, I've already bought my paintbrush and car wax. According to the internet, so it must be true, you burn over 1500 calories in a 2 hour session. I'll give you a full report next week where I'll try to avoid comparing eating less to global conflict and catastrophe.
Record Breakers
(This is from the 20th August)
This has been a record breaking week for my diet. I consumed the most amount of calories in a day since my diet started, get Roy Castle on the phone.
The boss took us away to London for the weekend where he selfishly wined and dined us without considering my diet. A pre-packaged BLT and a bag of peanuts on the train down set the diet-free tone for the day.
Instead of my usual salad, I had a three-course lunch while cruising down the Thames. After a bottle of wine, I regaled my colleagues with tales of my heroic struggle against calories between mouthfuls of chocolate brownie, while trying to ignore their incredulous glazed eyes.
We then hopped on the London eye. I'm sure my stomach was intent on punishing the lunch-time extravagance by trying to lay my lunch out in front of me, like the Gillian McKeith of the gastrointestinal world, while I stand there humiliated promising to do better. I managed to keep my lunch down and swiftly exited at the first available moment. A sightseeing walk was in order to burn off those extra calories.
That evening another record was broken, I had what seemed like the world's smallest lasagne in Covent Garden. We drank more wine as we dined Al Fresco listening to a busker bash out what my drunken ears judged to be a perfect rendition of Pink Floyd's Wish you were here before heading back to the hotel for some late night, alcohol-fueled action with an old-flame from the pre-diet days, a Doner Kebab.
With last weeks bag of doughnuts and this 4442 calorie day out, this column reads more like Elvis Presley's post mortem report than a diet diary. This latest splurge has helped kick the diet out of it's recent malaise though, I'm back on the salad and been to the gym 3 times this week already. I've not assessed the damage yet as I haven't brought myself to replace my broken scales, I hope I haven't broken a weight-gain record.
This has been a record breaking week for my diet. I consumed the most amount of calories in a day since my diet started, get Roy Castle on the phone.
The boss took us away to London for the weekend where he selfishly wined and dined us without considering my diet. A pre-packaged BLT and a bag of peanuts on the train down set the diet-free tone for the day.
Instead of my usual salad, I had a three-course lunch while cruising down the Thames. After a bottle of wine, I regaled my colleagues with tales of my heroic struggle against calories between mouthfuls of chocolate brownie, while trying to ignore their incredulous glazed eyes.
We then hopped on the London eye. I'm sure my stomach was intent on punishing the lunch-time extravagance by trying to lay my lunch out in front of me, like the Gillian McKeith of the gastrointestinal world, while I stand there humiliated promising to do better. I managed to keep my lunch down and swiftly exited at the first available moment. A sightseeing walk was in order to burn off those extra calories.
That evening another record was broken, I had what seemed like the world's smallest lasagne in Covent Garden. We drank more wine as we dined Al Fresco listening to a busker bash out what my drunken ears judged to be a perfect rendition of Pink Floyd's Wish you were here before heading back to the hotel for some late night, alcohol-fueled action with an old-flame from the pre-diet days, a Doner Kebab.
With last weeks bag of doughnuts and this 4442 calorie day out, this column reads more like Elvis Presley's post mortem report than a diet diary. This latest splurge has helped kick the diet out of it's recent malaise though, I'm back on the salad and been to the gym 3 times this week already. I've not assessed the damage yet as I haven't brought myself to replace my broken scales, I hope I haven't broken a weight-gain record.
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Fat brain offensive
This could well be my last column as I stepped on the scales today and they read 0kg. It seems that I have lost all of my weight now, although it may be the case the scales have broken.
This week we took the children to Gulliver’s Kingdom, a children’s theme park in the Peak District. The paths between rides are so unbelievably steep that it makes you wonder why anyone thought this was a good place for a theme park. But with the dieting mindset I saw these paths as perfect calorie burners.
My new dieting mindset has been under attack from my old mindset, the one responsible for keeping me fat. The war between them has been raging since I started the diet, but, armed with enthusiasm and hope, my new mindset was easily winning out, until recently.
I spotted a hot-donut stand at the park. I can take or leave chocolate, cakes aren’t really my thing, but deep-fried flour and egg covered in sugar is my weakness. A few weeks ago, with my dieting mindset, I would have maybe bought one or even walked past. I am ashamed to report I bought a bag of 4. I felt no guilt as I sat in the car, eating sweet donuts, in a perfect rapture.
These lapses have happened quite often in the last week, it seems my enthusiasm is starting wane and with it, my willpower. During my diet, my enthusiasm has been fuelled by people noticing my weight-loss and also being able to fit into smaller jeans shortly after starting the diet.
I’ve felt recently that the diet has become a burden. I understand the importance of it though so I’m not ready to give up just yet. Like a city banker, I really should start looking at the long-term gains rather than the buzz of the short-term fix.
I’m glad my scales are broken; I don’t think I would have liked the result of this week’s weigh in.
This week we took the children to Gulliver’s Kingdom, a children’s theme park in the Peak District. The paths between rides are so unbelievably steep that it makes you wonder why anyone thought this was a good place for a theme park. But with the dieting mindset I saw these paths as perfect calorie burners.
My new dieting mindset has been under attack from my old mindset, the one responsible for keeping me fat. The war between them has been raging since I started the diet, but, armed with enthusiasm and hope, my new mindset was easily winning out, until recently.
I spotted a hot-donut stand at the park. I can take or leave chocolate, cakes aren’t really my thing, but deep-fried flour and egg covered in sugar is my weakness. A few weeks ago, with my dieting mindset, I would have maybe bought one or even walked past. I am ashamed to report I bought a bag of 4. I felt no guilt as I sat in the car, eating sweet donuts, in a perfect rapture.
These lapses have happened quite often in the last week, it seems my enthusiasm is starting wane and with it, my willpower. During my diet, my enthusiasm has been fuelled by people noticing my weight-loss and also being able to fit into smaller jeans shortly after starting the diet.
I’ve felt recently that the diet has become a burden. I understand the importance of it though so I’m not ready to give up just yet. Like a city banker, I really should start looking at the long-term gains rather than the buzz of the short-term fix.
I’m glad my scales are broken; I don’t think I would have liked the result of this week’s weigh in.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Downsizer's Top Tips
This week has yielded some sad news in my personal life. I don’t think discussing the implications of this on my diet is entirely appropriate considering the other people that are more affected by this tragedy than me. All I can report is that my chocolate intake surged this week.
As someone who has spent the last 10 years dieting, I’ve picked up some tips that have helped me along the way, I thought I would take the opportunity this week to share some with you.
Don’t ban foods that you really like, they will tempt you into failure. If you enjoy your daily chocolate bar, incorporate it. Set a daily calorie limit and don’t exceed it.
A reduced workout is better than no workout if you’re feeling idle.
Log every single calorie you consume, every cup of tea and every bite of celery. If you’re unsure of the content then over report rather than under report. You can see where you’re going wrong and what you need to cut out. Use a free website such as foodfocus.co.uk.
Eat less; exercise more. We all know this, so in order for nutritional experts to justify their existence and make money they have muddied the waters with their idiotic advice and hundreds of diets all promoted using complex science-sounding jargon by people wearing white coats to give an air of scientific authenticity. Unlike Doctor or Nurse, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, and many unqualified people do and get given a TV show.
Next time someone on TV tells you to detox, eat “superfoods”, or drink a special soup, ignore them. Just eat less, drink plenty of water, get your 5-a-day, and exercise more; your body will detoxify itself, you’ll lose weight and you’ll reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease to boot.
My favourite bit of advice is to keep a bottle of washing-up liquid to hand. Sometimes I’ll be half way through eating a slice of cake, or something I shouldn’t, and think to myself, I really could do without eating the rest of this, but it’s so yummy. If you start thinking this, quickly, and without thinking about it, squirt the rest of the food with washing up liquid rendering it inedible.
If none of this works for you then I recommend putting yourself up for possible public humiliation by describing your efforts in a newspaper or blog. The fear of failing in public is enough to move a few pounds out of your system.
As someone who has spent the last 10 years dieting, I’ve picked up some tips that have helped me along the way, I thought I would take the opportunity this week to share some with you.
Don’t ban foods that you really like, they will tempt you into failure. If you enjoy your daily chocolate bar, incorporate it. Set a daily calorie limit and don’t exceed it.
A reduced workout is better than no workout if you’re feeling idle.
Log every single calorie you consume, every cup of tea and every bite of celery. If you’re unsure of the content then over report rather than under report. You can see where you’re going wrong and what you need to cut out. Use a free website such as foodfocus.co.uk.
Eat less; exercise more. We all know this, so in order for nutritional experts to justify their existence and make money they have muddied the waters with their idiotic advice and hundreds of diets all promoted using complex science-sounding jargon by people wearing white coats to give an air of scientific authenticity. Unlike Doctor or Nurse, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist, and many unqualified people do and get given a TV show.
Next time someone on TV tells you to detox, eat “superfoods”, or drink a special soup, ignore them. Just eat less, drink plenty of water, get your 5-a-day, and exercise more; your body will detoxify itself, you’ll lose weight and you’ll reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease to boot.
My favourite bit of advice is to keep a bottle of washing-up liquid to hand. Sometimes I’ll be half way through eating a slice of cake, or something I shouldn’t, and think to myself, I really could do without eating the rest of this, but it’s so yummy. If you start thinking this, quickly, and without thinking about it, squirt the rest of the food with washing up liquid rendering it inedible.
If none of this works for you then I recommend putting yourself up for possible public humiliation by describing your efforts in a newspaper or blog. The fear of failing in public is enough to move a few pounds out of your system.
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Get some exercise
Try cycling to work, get off at the bus stop before your usual one and walk the rest, travel to the supermarket by space hopper. All very good advice, but not very relevant to my life, except for the last one, which I did regularly, until the painful bursting incident.
I suppose I could cycle to work, generally it would be ok. The down point is that my route involves going up that narrow and steep hill next to the Wolferston Arms in Shuttington. In the unlikely event that I manage to avoid being hurled off my bike by a Frisbee salesman from Newton Regis eager to get to a meeting, my work colleagues wouldn’t appreciate sitting next to a large panting intumescent lump of heat and sweat. For them, it would be like being stood in the queue at McDonalds during a heatwave.
Instead, I’ve decided to find ways of being useful and doing things in my spare time that will also be good exercise. This week my next-door neighbour is decking my back-garden. To make it awkward for him, we decided that we wanted it to be two-tier, this involved him digging out a large part of our garden leaving a big pile of rubble, clay and soil ready to be shovelled into a skip. The night before, I decided I would get out first thing and start shovelling it myself. I kept it to myself in case my enthusiasm had disappeared by the morning.
First thing Saturday morning I was up and out and digging away. He joined me shortly after and for the next couple of hours we worked away together chatting away. We’ve been neighbours for nearly 5 years, we’ve always been friendly, a bit of small talk as we get into the car etc, but it’s the first time we’ve had a good conversation and found we had interests in common, it was a good day for community relations as well as weight-loss.
I’d filled the skip and spent the rest of the day waiting for another one that didn’t arrive. He said I must have shifted about 1.5 – 2 tons of earth. I’m not sure if he was trying to flatter me but when I worked out online that I’d burnt over 1000 calories I was gratified.
I’ve lost 1.6Kg (3.5lbs) this week, I’ve made friends, and have started to see more muscle appear on my arms, this dieting lark’s been well worth the effort so far.
I suppose I could cycle to work, generally it would be ok. The down point is that my route involves going up that narrow and steep hill next to the Wolferston Arms in Shuttington. In the unlikely event that I manage to avoid being hurled off my bike by a Frisbee salesman from Newton Regis eager to get to a meeting, my work colleagues wouldn’t appreciate sitting next to a large panting intumescent lump of heat and sweat. For them, it would be like being stood in the queue at McDonalds during a heatwave.
Instead, I’ve decided to find ways of being useful and doing things in my spare time that will also be good exercise. This week my next-door neighbour is decking my back-garden. To make it awkward for him, we decided that we wanted it to be two-tier, this involved him digging out a large part of our garden leaving a big pile of rubble, clay and soil ready to be shovelled into a skip. The night before, I decided I would get out first thing and start shovelling it myself. I kept it to myself in case my enthusiasm had disappeared by the morning.
First thing Saturday morning I was up and out and digging away. He joined me shortly after and for the next couple of hours we worked away together chatting away. We’ve been neighbours for nearly 5 years, we’ve always been friendly, a bit of small talk as we get into the car etc, but it’s the first time we’ve had a good conversation and found we had interests in common, it was a good day for community relations as well as weight-loss.
I’d filled the skip and spent the rest of the day waiting for another one that didn’t arrive. He said I must have shifted about 1.5 – 2 tons of earth. I’m not sure if he was trying to flatter me but when I worked out online that I’d burnt over 1000 calories I was gratified.
I’ve lost 1.6Kg (3.5lbs) this week, I’ve made friends, and have started to see more muscle appear on my arms, this dieting lark’s been well worth the effort so far.
Friday, 24 July 2009
Reprising my dieting career
I embarked on my dieting career about 10 years ago. I learned all about dieting from my girlfriend of the time, who is now my wife. As a bloke without a sister you learn all sorts of new things during your first few relationships, perfume names, women’s clothes sizes, when to keep your mouth shut. Keeping my mouth shut was my biggest problem, when rubbish wasn’t coming out, something rubbish was going in, my waistline suffered the consequences of the latter.
My first diet was a low calorie diet. Going from pork pie and chocolate milkshake for breakfast to a slice of toast was quite a shock. I was hungry all of the time and was still going over my 1500 calorie limit. This is where I learned the value of diet drinks. I was drinking over a litre of Pepsi per day, there’s 500 calories gone already. My hunger got the better of me this time.
“You can’t go wrong with a low-fat diet” said someone of questionable authority. A couple of weeks of hunger followed, not quite as bad as on the low-calorie, but hunger was still an alien concept to me. I felt really healthy, but the hunger got to me. I convinced myself that failure was inevitable and so it was.
I did the Atkins, it defeated the hunger problem, I never felt hungry and promptly went from 48” to 38” waist, I must have shed about 6 stone. I decided to have some celebratory chocolate, I’d not eaten a single piece all year, that proved to be my “one harmless cigarette” that ruins many a smoker’s quitting attempt. I put it all back on in 24 months.
So here I am, 32 years old, I’ve been on a break from my dieting career. I am now a father, a husband, a part-time student, and full time IT account manager. I coming back off sabbatical and reprising the career I embarked on 10 years ago, I’m stood at the foot of the mountain and this time I’m determined.
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