Weigh-in - Week 48

Well I feel really good today! This morning's weigh-in registered a fantastic loss of 3.8lbs, which brings my weight down to 16st 12.6lbs. I am very pleased to say that, at long last, I have made it into the 16's! It feels really good, especially after the trubulations of the last couple of weeks, where I had a fairly large gain.

The tricky part for me now is to make sure that I stay below 17st at next week's weigh-in - I think the Jubilee Weekend may well bring some temptation - especially the Jubilee Party on our local green, where I beleive there is to be a Hog Roast and plenty of Ale. I guess I will just have to be especially careful in the few days before it - maybe I'll have to forego my usual Friday and Saturday beers to save the weekly points for Monday.

I received the results from some tests I had done a couple of weeks ago and was very pleased to see that my Carotid Artery, Atrial Fibrillation, Abdominal Aortic Anuerism and Peripheral Arterial Desease testa all cam back with "Normal" results. The only concern the screening company raised (apart from the fact that my BMI was 32.5) was that my Resting Heartbeat was very slow at 44BPM. I went to see my doctor yesterday and he seems quite happy that there is probably nothing to worry about, but he's booked me in for another ECG next week. I'm also going to have a blood test for Cholesterol levels at the same time (last time I tested my Cholesterol, the results were on the high side of normal, so hopefully it'll be the same this time). The doctor also checked my blood pressure, which is also normal at 120/78, so all in all I think I'm probably pretty healthy considering all of the abuses I've put my body through over the years - overweight (or, more, normally obese) since my teens, smoked until about 2003/4, almost no exercise since I gave up swimming when I discovered beer in my early teens etc. etc.

I mentioned in last week's blog that I was trying to go backwards on the crosstrainer as my warm up for my kettlebell circuits. Well I persevered with it this week and on Monday I managed to do my full 5 minute warm up going backwards. I wasn't as fast as I am when I go forwards, but it definitely feels very different and exercies the legs in a different way. I'm going to stick with it and see if I can up the pace over the next few weeks. Everything else has pretty much stayed the same - 10 pressups and 30 seconds of the plank at the end of each circuit, I think I'm going to stick at 10 pressups for a little while and try to improve the technique, before I try and do more repetitions. I also need to think about introducing what we used to call "squat thrusts" so that I can get used to the movement in preparation for my surfing holiday in August.

Anyway, that's all for now - keep on losing and I'll see you next week!

Weigh-in - Week 47

Well I never quite got around to posting last week, so my apologies for that. My excuse is that I was just so incredibly disheartened bythe fact that I had gained 2.4lbs since the previous week, putting me back up to 17st 4.2lbs!

This week I have lost most of that and i am now back down to 17st 2.4lbs, which, cosidering that I went out on Saturday night and had far too many beers, followed by sausage & chips on the way home, is not too bad. Not only that, but I ended up eating at a Burger King on Sunday afternoon (Cheddar & Bacon Angus Burger, if you must know), It's a shame really because my sneaky peak on Saturday morning had me weighing 17st 0.8lbs, but I'm am still pleased that I've lost most of that gain.

I tried something different yesterday for my pre-kettlebell warm up - I attempted to go backwards on the Croisstrainer! I have to say it is a really wierd sensation and I found it quite tricky. I had planned to do 5 minutes, but I had to stop after 2 as it was just too strange. I do think I will try to build up my time though as I'm sure it works the muscles in a different manner.

I've now increased the number of press-ups I do at the end of each kettlebell circuit to 10. I see this as a real acheivement as not long ago I really struggled to do 1. Overall I think my levels of fitness have got to be much better than they were when I started this nearly a year ago. I can tell this in that many of the everyday things I do that used to cause me to get out of breath and/or start sweating - like climbing a flight of stairs for example, no longer cause me any bother.

I do find it really annoying that my weight loss has really slowed down! I lost nearly 3 stones in the first six months, but have not quite lost a stone since January. On the bright side though, I am still on a downward trend and I shall do my best to remain on it for the next 12 months if that is what it takes!

I'll be back next week, hopefully much closer to my goal of being under 17stones by June (I think I may have to revise that to under 17stones by the middle of June).  'Till then, bye for now.

Weigh-in - Week 45

Well after last week's big loss I was hoping for more of the same, unfortunately it wasn't to be - just 0.2lbs off this week! I blame it on the Chicken Fajitas that I had for dinner on Monday, the night before my weigh-in, also on the fact that Monday was a bank holiday so I was able to have a few beers throughout the day. Hopefully I will lose more this week!

As you know, I ordered a new Kettlebell last week, which arrived on Thursday. It's 12kg, which feels quite a bit heavier than my original 7.5kg 'bell - I suppose that is because it is quite a bit heavier. After doing my first session with it on Friday morning it occurred to me that it would be very tiring to have to carry it around with me all day, then it occurred to me that I've actually lost slightly more than the equivalent of 2 of them!

That's all for this week - I'm a bit disheatened by the tiny loss this week and connot think of anything further to add, apart from that I won't let it get me down and I will lose more weight at next week's weigh-in!

Weigh-in - Week 44

Well I'm really please this week as I have lost 3.8lbs to bring my current weight down to 17st 2lbs. I think this is probably my biggest loss since I started the Weightwatchers plan! I think the weight loss gods are trying to make up for the gain I had last week!

I've got a couple of mini-goals coming up:

1. Get into the 16s (and also my 8th silver star). - just over 2lbs to go.
2. 16st 11.2lbs - 20% from my starting weight - 4.8lbs to go.

So I'm hoping I can acheive them fairly soon - I had planned, a couple of weeks ago, to hit the first target by the end of May, perhaps I can hit the 2nd target by then? We shall see.

I also had a pretty good NSV this week - my wife bought me a couple of pairs of shorts (just in case we have a summer this year, she does like to be prepared). One pair had a 38" waist, while the other pair had a 36" waist, she was expecting to have to take the 36" ones back - I said no, it'll be the 38's that have to go. I was right :-) I was so pleased that I got a new pair of jeans too!

On the exercise front, I've continued with the Kettlebell routine, but I've now increased the press-ups to 7 reps on each circuit and am up to 25 seconds of the plank on each circuit. I've also ordered a heavier Kettlebell, which should arrive tomorrow. I'm really beginning to feel as though I'm acheiving a reasonable level of fitness now, although with all the blubber I'm carrying I don't expect any visible signs to show.

I've also cancelled my subscription to Weightwatchers as I've found an iPhone app that can track my points just as effectively as the WW app, but it doesn't cost me £10.00 per month. The points database seems to be a bit better too. I think Weightwatchers are not offering a big enough price differential between the online membership and the full membership to make online membership worthwhile when there are other resources available. I also think that they ought to offer a "couples" membership at a reduced rate as £20.00 per month for 2 people to access exactly the same resources is a bit steep in my opinion and must put a lot of partners off joining.

Anyway, bye for now - I'll be back again next week - will you?