Losing weight is easy! ;)

I found losing weight is easy if I followed these 7 KEY points:
1) Never get hungry! Or next you eat, your body stores!
2) Eat often! Not drink often!
3) Avoid fats, sugar, wheat!
4) Eat lots of Fruit and Veg!
5) Eat balanced amounts of Good Carbs, Good Fats and Protein (if it's meat, make it lean)!
6) Exercise 6 days a week!
7) Be honest with yourself!

Or even easier...just follow Slimming World (it fulfills the above 7 KEY points). It really is so simple, helpful, sustainable and really works. I have yet to find anyone who has followed SW (HONESTLY) and not lost weight. Even when there is very little to lose, or none to lose, if you honest with yourself even maintaining should be easy.

There is no quick fix, magic or permanent diet out there that allows you to lose weight and eat crap. I've tried over the last 10 years a lot of shake, calorie counting, no carb, tablet diets. Even Heart Foundation Diet. But none of them were sustainable!

It's not about losing the weight on a diet then going back to how you were and expect the weight to stay off. You have to accept if you want to lose the weight, you have to change the way you eat. SW is not a diet....its a lifestyle. And quite frankly, The most amazing, best tasting, unbelievably energetic, phycologically enhancing, Feel Good Lifestyle I have lived to date!

Weigh-In Week 42

Stayed the same this week.

Award this week:

Slimmer of the Month for November!


Started at 28 stone 13 pounds (405 lbs / 183.71 kg)
Currently 18 stone 7 pounds (259 lbs / 117.48 kg)

1st Short Term Target 26 stone (364 lbs / 165.11 kg) (Achieved this 18/04/2011)

2nd Short Term Target 22 stone (308 lbs / 139.71 kg) (Achieved this 04/08/2011)

3rd Short Term Target 18 stone (252 lbs / 114.31 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/12/2011)

Long Term Target 14 stone (196 lbs / 88.9 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/04/2012)

The losses have gone as follows:

Feb11 (4wks): 17.50 lbs (7.94 kg)
Mar11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
Apr11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
May11 (5wks): 18.00 lbs (8.16 kg)
Jun11 (4wks): 17.00 lbs (7.71 kg)
Jul11 (4wks): 10.00 lbs (4.54 kg)
Aug11 (4wks): 19.00 lbs (8.62 kg)
Sept11 (5wks): 14.00 lbs (6.35 kg)
Week 35: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg) GAIN
Week 36: 3 lbs (1.36 kg)
Week 37: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 38: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 39: 9 lbs (4.08 kg)
Week 40: 1 lbs (0.45 kg) GAIN
Week 41: 5 lbs (2.27 kg)
Week 42: Maintain

One of those boring stayed the same week. Cant be too upset with it as I was off plan Saturday night, and still remained high on Syns the rest of the week. Also had a lot of Carbs this week, which doesnt normally work well for me, but my body was craving it. It seems like the 9 and 5 pound losses are causing a High then low/gain/maintain cycle again. Hope to break it this week, or at least have another really high loss to hit my target of 18stone by 01/12/2011!

Goals for this week:
1) 100% Food Optimising
2) Avoid the carb cravings!

I have targeted only 3 lbs this week, but am desperately aiming for 8 lbs if I can to reach 18 stone and be on track for my targets!

Weigh-In Week 41

Another 5 lbs (2.27 kg) off this week! :D

No Awards this week.

Started at 28 stone 13 pounds (405 lbs / 183.71 kg)
Currently 18 stone 7 pounds (259 lbs / 117.48 kg)

1st Short Term Target 26 stone (364 lbs / 165.11 kg) (Achieved this 18/04/2011)

2nd Short Term Target 22 stone (308 lbs / 139.71 kg) (Achieved this 04/08/2011)

3rd Short Term Target 18 stone (252 lbs / 114.31 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/12/2011)

Long Term Target 14 stone (196 lbs / 88.9 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/04/2012)

The losses have gone as follows:

Feb11 (4wks): 17.50 lbs (7.94 kg)
Mar11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
Apr11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
May11 (5wks): 18.00 lbs (8.16 kg)
Jun11 (4wks): 17.00 lbs (7.71 kg)
Jul11 (4wks): 10.00 lbs (4.54 kg)
Aug11 (4wks): 19.00 lbs (8.62 kg)
Sept11 (5wks): 14.00 lbs (6.35 kg)
Week 35: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg) GAIN
Week 36: 3 lbs (1.36 kg)
Week 37: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 38: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 39: 9 lbs (4.08 kg)
Week 40: 1 lbs (0.45 kg) GAIN
Week 41: 5 lbs (2.27 kg)

It has been a good solid week of sticking to plan, good exercise and focusing on getting on with the job. It honestly felt fairly effortless and I felt positive the whole week. Little oppertunities to "cheat" / over Syn came along and I found it fairly easy, but very satisfying to SAY NO! There is no doubt that Slimming World works, and works well as long as you stick to the plan, make good choices and avoid the horrible pitfalls that got you into this situation in the first place. People often say to me, "but you have to at least enjoy your life?" I always nod and say "yeah.." and I know for a fact it was "enjoying life" that led to bad habits that led to an unhappy life! I am honestly enjoying life here and now by saying no, and intend to enjoy it even more once all my weight is off thank you very much! Besides, Karen made some Syn free Devilish Eggs tonight that were enjoying life and free to eat!

- I know its greedy to say, but I really wanted 6 lbs (2.72 kg) off to get my 10.5 lbs (147 lbs / 66.67 kg) Award! :(
+ Happy to have had such a good loss this week.
+ Had 2 good runs this week! :)

Goals for this week:
1) 100% Food Optimising
2) Make a sensible choice for supper out with friends on Saturday night.

I have targeted another 3 lbs (1.36 kg) off for next week. but would be happier for 3.5 (1.59 kg) leaving me only another 3.5 (1.59 kg) to lose to hit 18 stone (252 lbs / 114.31 kg) by 01/12/2011....Running weight! :D I know I'm running now, and the 0.5 stone (7 lbs / 3.18 kg) difference is not much, but its the target of hitting running weight by 01/12/2011 that means so much to me! :)

Weigh-In Week 40

I put 1 lbs (0.45 kg) on.

No Awards this week.

Started at 28 stone 13 pounds (405 lbs / 183.71 kg)
Currently 18 stone 12 pounds (264 lbs / 119.75 kg)

1st Short Term Target 26 stone (364 lbs / 165.11 kg) (Achieved this 18/04/2011)
2nd Short Term Target 22 stone (308 lbs / 139.71 kg) (Achieved this 04/08/2011)

3rd Short Term Target 18 stone (252 lbs / 114.31 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/12/2011)

Long Term Target 14 stone (196 lbs / 88.9 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/04/2012)

The losses have gone as follows:

Feb11 (4wks): 17.50 lbs (7.94 kg)
Mar11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
Apr11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
May11 (5wks): 18.00 lbs (8.16 kg)
Jun11 (4wks): 17.00 lbs (7.71 kg)
Jul11 (4wks): 10.00 lbs (4.54 kg)
Aug11 (4wks): 19.00 lbs (8.62 kg)
Sept11 (5wks): 14.00 lbs (6.35 kg)
Week 35: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg) GAIN
Week 36: 3 lbs (1.36 kg)
Week 37: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 38: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 39: 9 lbs (4.08 kg)
Week 40: 1 lbs (0.45 kg) GAIN

It's been a weird week. Had a massive cycle on Saturday (61km / 37.89 mi). Then had a heavy SYN day Sunday (28 SYNs) after a Blueberry Muffin, Magnum Icecream and usual SYNs. Then played Volleyball Monday night and ended up with 3 days of stiff muscles, especially my Quads....kinda not cool when you wan tot cycle or run every day! :( All the time my weight wasn't going down! Then wednesday night out to movies and half a snickers and popcorn. Woke this morning and weighed myself at 123 kg (272 lbs)! Depressed all day about a possible 9 lbs (4 kg) gain this week, completely cancelling out last weeks loss! But I  think I was carrying a lot of water and it all dissapeared today leaving me with a 1 lbs gain! So frustrating roller coaster week, but after a scare this morning, I was quite happy to take the 1 lbs gain! After all, 9 lbs (4 kg) loss last week and 1 lbs (0.45 kg) on this week is still 4 lbs (1.81 kg) loss per week, which suits me just fine! :)

+ Happy I stayed under 19 stone
+ Happy I stayed under 120 kg
+ Happy I still have more than 10 stone off!
+ My cycle tonight was AWESOME! New fastest average speed 18.86 mph / 30.32 km/h! And that was over 24km too! :)

Goals for this week:
1) Back to focusing on 100% Food Optimising after a fairly rollercoaster week.
2) Need to survive Kaydee's Birthday Party on Saturday with SYN limits intact, and her Birthday on Tuesday which will mean more cake and either a Chinese or a meal out!

Despite Kaydees Birthday and party this week, I feel really confident and positive about this week and I think a 3 lbs loss this week is realistic and achievable, and will keep me happy!

Choose, Believe, then simply do it!

I have been thinking a lot recently about how this year turned out to be so different from every other year that I tried to diet. Here are some of the influences that made a difference:

1. I had what I considered to be a fairly serious problem with 1 of my legs due to blood circulation problems due to my weight.
2. I had a strong desire to get home and visit my parents, but flying was going to be very risky with already clear blood circulation problems in my leg.
3. Slimming World helped, because it's AWESOME! The recipes are healthy, tasty and filling! What more could you ask for. Nevermind the fact its a sustainable way to eat the rest of your life, even when you have nothing left to lose!
4. I had a friend, Steve, who pushed me real hard to start exercising, which has had an incredible effect on my state of mind and attitude to this whole thing!
5. My wife, Karen, led from the front by tirelessly, and some days being very tired from it, cooking and preparing nearly all my meals the Slimming World way...Tasty, Filling and SYN Free! Without her help, it would have been too much effort!
6. Going public, facebook and blogging about what I was doing, for ALL my friends, old and new, work colleagues, old and new, and my Family to see, was a massive amount of pressure. I chose to do it for that exact reason. There was NO WAY I was going to puclicly fail at this for literally EVERYONE I knew to see!

However, the more I contemplate it, the more I realise that there were 3 vital steps that made the biggest difference:

1. I chose to do it for ME. Every other time I had someone else pushing me into starting. Or making me feel that bad about being fat I did it because I felt like I HAD TO! This time I actually went into this thinking it would fail because every other attempt to diet had failed, but that this was a vital step toward a gastric band which I believed at the time was the answer. It wasn't till I was 3 weeks in, after a few decent losses with minimal effort, that I decided to give this a real go, for ME!
2. At about the same time, I had met a couple people (Lesley, Ian and Stuart) that turned that choice and desire into an honest, sincere belief that losing all the weight possible! They had proved it by doing it themselves! That for me was a vital element. I'd never believed I could do it. I had hoped. I had wished. I even wanted it! But I had never beleived it was actually possible!
3. Then doing it became a case of small targets. Achievable, and challenging targets. The key was making me have to work to achieve them, but at least making them achievable, because achieving them bred an incredible feeling of satisfaction from the success. Eventually I became addicted to that feeling of succeeding. Examples:
a) Steve set up very small achievable exercise goals. I started walking 200m a day, 6 days a week. Initially they seemed stupid targets. But it was hard to get up early, get dressed for a walk no matter the weather, and get out there for 5 minutes to walk around the block. Believe it or not, at 28 stone, walking 300m was actually a challenge! Every week we increased the distance. Just enough to keep it challenging to ensure the feeling of accomplishment at the end of the week.
b) I promised to give up crisps and bread for a week. When I succeeded at that, I thought..Ok one more week. Then a third! Eventually lasting that long without them felt so good I had to keep going. Every now and then, I didn't last a week. So the next week I was more adamant to go without!
c) Steve set a longer term goal to run a 5km fun run in June. Despite an injury to my leg a week or 2 prior, and the fun run turning out to be a fair distance away, instead of setting a new goal for a closer fun run another day, I absolutely HAD to achieve THAT goal. My addiction to achieving my goals demanded it!

Weigh-In Week 39

Very happy and not at all surprised to lose 9 lbs (4.08 kg) this week! :)

Awards this week:

10 stone (142 lbs / 64.41 kg)! Wow double figures!

Another Slimmer of the week award to add to the pile! :)



Started at 28 stone 13 pounds (405 lbs / 183.71 kg)
Currently 18 stone 11 pounds (263 lbs / 119.29 kg)

1st Short Term Target 26 stone (364 lbs / 165.11 kg) (Achieved this 18/04/2011)
2nd Short Term Target 22 stone (308 lbs / 139.71 kg) (Achieved this 04/08/2011)

3rd Short Term Target 18 stone (252 lbs / 114.31 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/12/2011)

Long Term Target 14 stone (196 lbs / 88.9 kg) (hope to reach this by 01/04/2012)

The losses have gone as follows:

Feb11 (4wks): 17.50 lbs (7.94 kg)
Mar11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
Apr11 (4wks): 15.50 lbs (7.03 kg)
May11 (5wks): 18.00 lbs (8.16 kg)
Jun11 (4wks): 17.00 lbs (7.71 kg)
Jul11 (4wks): 10.00 lbs (4.54 kg)
Aug11 (4wks): 19.00 lbs (8.62 kg)
Sept11 (5wks): 14.00 lbs (6.35 kg)
Week 35: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg) GAIN
Week 36: 3 lbs (1.36 kg)
Week 37: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 38: 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg)
Week 39: 9 lbs (4.08 kg)

I've had an amazing week. Not only did it feel amazing losing those 9 lbs (4.08 kg), but the week was just super positive from start to finish. I felt so good. All the exercise was going well. It's all getting easier! I wish I could give someone of the positive mental attitude and the amazing confidence boost its given me away. So many people could do with some of what I'm on! To quote Charlie Sheen: "I got Tiger Blood!"

+ I'm now under 19 stone! :P
+ I'm now under 120 kg! :D:D:D
+ I've now lost 10 stone!
+ I feel so fit! I can run! I can cycle! I can do both in the same day and still do other stuff without collapsing!!

This is going to seem stupid, but sadly there is a very real chance I might not achieve this 1 and only goal I am setting for next week:
1. Don't put even 1/2 lbs (0.23 kg) on! A maintain will be ok....JUST DONT GAIN!

Moving back on track with my long term goals, just desperately need to not gain next week! Please!

Below 120KG!!

It's not official till I weigh in tomorrow obviously, but today for the first time on my home scale I dropped below 120 kg! 119.4 kg to be exact! :D


For years I have often said "I'd like to lose some weight and I would be happy to even get to 120 kg. I could get active and play some sport at 120 kg. Which in turn would help me lose more weight."

However, for years, and especially the last 3 or 4 years, I have felt like that will never happen! 120 kg seemed unattainable. The mirage in the desert. A Unicorn. BUT...today I fond the Unicorn! I reached the oasis! And I am so happy and proud of myself I can SCREAM! AAARRRGGHHHH!!! :D

Time to find a Volleyball club to join I think?