Profile shot 9 + month in review

 

So I find myself at the end of a very successful month. In my first weigh-in of the month I was 169.2, in my last I was 162.8, a loss of 6.4 kg. I passed through the 10 and the 15 kg milestones. I stayed disciplined with food and noticed an overall improvement in fitness and I started fitting old clothes. That is a successful month by any definition. I hope I can continue in March. I'm toying with the idea of treating myself to a creme egg on Easter Sunday, but I haven't decided yea or nay just yet .

I know it looks like I'm getting bigger, but that's the scaling as I crop the picture down.

Droopy

The area just below my belly button is starting to look like a slightly deflated party balloon. Yes, it's the loose skin that so many dieters end up talking about. I guess the way I figure it is that at the moment I wouldn't be prepared to show my torso to anyone, but I might at least be able to dress well at the end of all this. That's not nothing. Anyway, dealing with loose skin is like step 89. Right now I'm on step 7. So I'm not going to worry about it too much.

There's always the possibility of surgery at the end of this, anyway.

Facetime

The month is winding down. Time for another headshot, I think. The one on top was taken on 5 January, the middle on 29 January and the bottom, yesterday.

I get the feeling the close-up was a little extreme on the third one. Oh well.

I went up to Mum and Dad's place today and picked up some clothes that had been in storage there. Not everything I picked fits me yet, but it feels good that some of it does.

To 'Tube or not 'Tube, that is the question

I'm considering putting together a video for YouTube to share my thoughts on weight loss so far. I've enjoyed a lot of motivation from there and I think I have something to offer. I've half written a script for a video, but I'm a little ambivalent about my presentation style.

I also went for a lunchtime walk - amble, really, for twenty-five minutes down to the market day on campus and back again. It was a lovely day for a walk.

Weigh-in 8

Start weight: 178.8 kg (394.2 lbs)
Last week's weight: 165.2 kg (364.2 lbs)
Current weight: 162.8 kg (358.9 lbs)
Loss this week: 2.4 kg (5.3 lbs)
Overall loss: 16 kg (35.3 lbs)
Start BMI: 56.4
Last week's BMI: 52.1
Current BMI: 51.4

I am thrilled, stunned and amazed with this week's result. I was hoping for a 1.4 kg loss to get me to the 15 kg mark, and instead I got an extra kilogram to take me to a 16 kg loss. I had to double-check, because 2.4 kg is a huge loss for 1 week, but the scales gave the same result twice in a row. This is absolutely wonderful. Given that my goal for the year is to lose 60 kg, I'm now a quarter of the way there.

So, yay for me! As I mentioned, I mentally broke up the 60 kg goal into four 15 kg phases To get the first phase done in less than two months is great, and gives me a month in hand for the rest of the year. This also takes my weight out of the 360s lbs range (it's helpful to think in multiple systems) and into the 350s. My next goals in the short term are:

• Get into the 150 kg range
• 20 kg loss
• BMI <50

Profile shot 8

 

I think there's some more change evident this week, especially around the face. I can't really tell with respect to my body because this t-shirt isn't as clingy as other ones I like to use for profile shots. Especially the microfibre grey ones I've worn for the previous two weeks. I'm pretty sure my man boobs and arse are getting smaller, though.

I had to walk up an incline today, something I normally try to avoid. Dunedin is not without its share of streets on hills and I had to park all the way at the top of one to do something at the bottom of it. The last time I walked up Carroll Street, I was sweating and puffing. It was an unpleasant experience. Today, while I consciously breathed deeply as I made my way up the hill, I wasn't exhausted when I reached the top. It looks perfectly benign on Street View, but it's quite a non-scale-victory for me.




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Pick-me-up

I really needed a pick-me-up today. I think I probably would have resorted to food for that a few months ago. I didn't do that today. I uploaded this month's profile shots to Facebook instead. Lots of positive comments that make me smile.

I took topless profiles pics today (no, those weren't the ones I put up). A little bit of change in how my abdomen hangs over my pubic area, but not much else.

More temptation, more resistance

Once again I faced a tempting time at work today as the leftover catering from an event at work was brought into the staff room to share for afternoon tea. There were muffins and savouries and cakes. I think there were some grapes amongst them too. I resisted. Colleagues cooed over the tasty morsels. I stuck with my apple.

It helped that some of my workmates know that I'm making an effort to lose weight and I didn't want to risk the embarrassment of appearing not to be able to control myself. That wasn't the only reason, though. I didn't want to risk how far I've come. There's a kind of snowball effect when it comes to weight loss. Once you've started it, you don't really want to stop if you are seeing success.

What I was mulling over in my mind today was that I really am doing well. Given that I'd like to lose 60 kg by the end of the year, I only really need to lose 5 kg per month. And at Sunday's weigh-in, I was well ahead of that. Maybe by the end of this month, I'll have built up a month in hand. That would be pretty cool.

The tale of the tape 1

So I bought a tape measure today. The good news is that the whole thing could wrap around me. The bad news is the figures are still too damn high. Well, there's only one way to solve that.

I followed the instructions here.

Neck 44 cm

Bicep 48 cm, 48 cm

Bust (Moobs) 146 cm

Chest 137 cm

Waist 146 cm

Hips 154 cm 

Thigh 91 cm, 92 cm

Calve 51 cm, 49 cm

Weigh-in 7

Start weight: 178.8 kg (394.2 lbs)
Last week's weight: 167 kg (368.2 lbs)
Current weight: 165.2 kg (364.2 lbs)
Loss this week: 1.8 kg (4 lbs)
Overall loss: 13.6 kg (30 lbs)
Start BMI: 56.4
Last week's BMI: 52.7
Current BMI: 52.1

So some further excellent progress this week. I haven't really articulated goals, but my hope is to lose 60kg this year, and mentally I've broken that down into 15 kg stages, so it would be very exciting if I could hit an overall loss of 15kg before the end of March. It now looks like I can achieve that in the next week or two.

That makes me very happy. Another thing that makes me happy is that I'm starting to fit some of my old clothes. I know I mentioned it on Friday, but I'm proud of myself for getting this far. I think I'll be reaching a stage soon where I'll have to buy some new clothes and it will be frustrating buying a wardrobe that I won't need very long, but that is a very, very small price to pay.

Keep this in mind

So I haven't fallen off the wagon when it comes to fast food, but stories like this one certainly make a great deterrent: Burger King sells mouldy burger to Wellington student.

Better

I find myself feeling a little better, physically. Even though it is still very early in my weight loss process. When I walk, my pace is more purposeful than my previous lazy, casual shuffle. But 12 kg is a significant loss. I have a pair of dumbbells that are 4 kg each, I can imagine having to carry three of them around all the time would definitely slow me down.

One other thing is I tried on some old shirts today that I had grown too big for and a couple now fit quite well. Granted, they are 6xl, but that's a non scale victory I'm very pleased about. There are other 6xls that don't fit still, but I'm growing more assured that it will just be a matter of time. 

Profile shots 7

I think I'm making some progress. Hard to perceive this week.

Pollan

Slow contraction

So it's Wednesday. Shirtless shot day. And I didn't notice much of a change this week. I think my lower thighs are getting smaller,  but I can't really tell. I think I'm going to have to get a measuring tape.

Mathematical tyranny

I keep on having to tell myself that this whole weight loss thing is not a matter that can be mathematically predicted. That previous results do not predict future success. I catch myself thinking in the shower what weight I might be in a month or six months or a year. Pondering my decreasing fat rolls. Idle speculation, sure, but I must be vigilant against setting myself up for disappointment. Because down that path lies discouragement and resignation. And that's not the road I want to take.

Vegetable rapprochement

So I was never big on vegetables. But, it turns out, that I was never big on my mother's vegetables. She comes from the boil 'em all to slime school of cuisine, so veg wasn't a pleasure to eat when I was growing up.  As I discovered food in restaurants I would find them more enjoyable there. So I determined to develop some cooking techniques to make the veg more of a tasty prospect.

Today I set myself the task of cooking some Brussels sprouts. A notoriously bitter little growth. After  some research, I coated them with a little olive oil and garlic and roasted them. The outsides became crisp and caramelised and they were very tasty. I've read that another option is sautéing them, which I may try next.

Weigh-in 6

Start weight: 178.8 kg (394.2 lbs)
Last week's weight: 169.2 kg (373 lbs)
Current weight: 167 kg (368.2 lbs)
Loss this week: 2.2 kg (4.8 lbs)
Overall loss: 11.8 kg (26.8 lbs)
Start BMI: 56.4
Last week's BMI: 53.4
Current BMI: 52.7

What an amazing week. A loss of 2.2 kg, I haven't seen that kind of number since the first weeks of the diet. And I'm a little puzzled as to why I'm seeing it now. It does seem a little high for a safe rate of loss (around 1% of body weight per week). It's not extreme, just unexpected. Still, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I read Michael Pollan's Food Rules yesterday and I'm gratified that since I changed my diet I seem to be following a lot of them now. He sums it up, saying:

Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

So he insists that when you go to the supermarket, you stick to the edges - with the produce, meat and dairy rather than go into the centre for the processed foods. And I find I'm doing that a lot more these days. I have substantially increased my fruit and vegetable intake and my meat portions are down to 150 grams. It seems to be working really well for me.

Still not over bad food

So I went to the mall today. I wanted to pick up a new keyboard for my computer. Once I accomplished my mission, I had to get out of there fast. I could smell the scent of Burger King wafting up from the food court. I think I was actually salivating, although I wasn't hungry. Again, I resisted the temptation, but it was hard. I don't think I have quite got over my relationship with bad food yet. I'm still winning, but the battle is far from over.

Profile shots 6

This month's profile shirt is a boring grey one. But exciting things are going on underneath it.

 

Stop the presses

Okay, so today is not my regular weigh-in day. I'm not going to update (actually I did) the chart or go through the rigmarole of posting the various figures I post on Sundays. I do weigh myself several times a week, though. Just to keep track. And I had to share this right away.

I have reached the 10kg milestone much faster than I expected.

I've smashed through it by half a kilo. I haven't been sick, I haven't changed my diet or my activity level. It has been a little colder than usual, though. I took some shirtless profile shots today and compared them with last week. There is a definite improvement there. I think maybe my body used some energy in maintaining my body temperature against the elements. My activity level is probably going to drop over the next couple of days. So I think the loss rate will drop back a little. Today is a public holiday and I've tacked on a couple of days of annual leave to that, I'm not back at work until Monday.

Poo

"Oh God, he's really going to talk about it, isn't he?"
"Well, it is unpleasant, but it is an effect of the diet"
"Yeah, but this blog used to be so classy..."

As you can understand from my imagined dialogue above, I'm going to talk about defecation, pooing,  taking a dump, pinching a loaf, dropping a deuce, visiting the thunderbox, droping the kids off at the pool. If you get my meaning.

Well, the daily contemplative experience is a hell of a lot easier now that I have a high fibre, low fat diet. The first time I tried Xenical, when I hadn't changed the quantity of fat in my diet, what came out was bright orange, oily and was difficult to flush down. Now with a different diet, I don't have that distressing experience when I go to the toilet. There are stories floating around the internet of people who lost control of their bowels on the drug, but I'm convinced that can be credited to eating a lot of fat and hoping the drug will do the work for you. It blocks the absorbtion of fat in the intestine, that has to go somewhere.

The threat of that itself has quite an effect. As long as I consume the drug, I am deterred from eating fatty food because I want to avoid an unpleasant experience.

Weigh-in 5

Start weight: 178.8 kg (394.2 lbs)
Last week's weight: 170.4 kg (375.7 lbs)
Current weight: 169.2 kg (373 lbs)
Loss this week: 1.2 kg (2.6 lbs)
Overall loss: 9.6 kg (21.1 lbs)
Start BMI: 56.4
Last week's BMI: 53.8
Current BMI: 53.4







Some major milestones this week. First of all, I wave goodbye to the 170s. May I never see them again. Secondly, I've broken through the 20 pounds lost mark. Which is really thrilling. Thirdly, my BMI has dropped by three whole points since I started. Finally, my body weight has dropped by more than 5% (5.37% to be precise). I have lost one twentieth of my start weight. So this has put a big smile on my face all day.

I really have nothing to say today

Everything is ticking over tickety-boo. I did wear some shorts today and had to keep on hitching them up as they were coming loose, which is both vexing and gratifying at the same time.

The month ahead

So it's a new month, with new possibilities. I have the opportunity to build on what I've achieved. I not really going to set a firm goal for the kind of weight loss I would like to achieve, I'd just like to persevere. Keep doing what I'm doing, because last month it was a recipe for success. I hope it carries on in the same vein..