lose 50 pounds

First of all, I should apologise to any of you who had been coming on this site to check out my weekly progress. I have neglected my messages on here. Sadly, it isn’t the only thing I have neglected – I have put some weight back on since Christmas, but I am back on here to correct things. I currently weigh 14 stone 7 pounds (203 pounds). My target is to get to 13 stone exactly which is 182 pounds, that’s 21 pounds away. I am back to complete my mission, my battle against the bulge. I am setting myself no time limits and I intend to do the GM Diet one week, followed by exercising the second week. I am doing the GM Diet this week so hopefully I lose 3 or 4 pounds. I am seeing this as a fresh start and like I said earlier, I am not neglecting this site and more importantly, myself, again until I hit my target.

The reason I put some weight back on is because I haven’t exercised much and I have also snacked too much on peanuts and chocolates. I also have gone back to drinking alcohol again. I will continue to enjoy drinking alcohol throughout my weight loss programme but not in huge amounts.

I will next post a message on Monday or Tuesday next week.

RESULTS OF WEEK 10: I loved my time in Switzerland but I hardly exercised and certainly didn’t watch what I ate. I didn’t drink any alcohol though, that is 10 weeks dry!

Week 11 (this week) is the week leading up to Christmas and including Christmas Day. Week 12 is the week between Christmas Day and New Years Day. I have decided that in these two weeks, I am going to enjoy Christmas. I don’t intend to ‘let myself go’ but I am not too fussed about gaining some weight. This is my time off from the fitness regime.

I haven’t weighed myself last week as I decided that there was no point as I know I have gained a little. There’s no point of depressing myself.

My aim now is in week 13 (Jan 2nd to 8th) I am going to do the GM Diet with little exercise, and in week 14 (Jan 9th to 15th) I will repeat the GM Diet but with quite a lot of exercise. I have decided that Jan 16th will be my big weigh in day when I will see what weight I will then be. After week 9 I was 13 stone 10 pounds (192 pounds), hopefully after week 14, I will be less than that and closer to my target weight of 13 stone (182 pounds).

RESULTS OF WEEK 9: Another loss of 3 pounds after my final week on the GM Diet this year. I couldn’t stop them cravings and ate far too many foods I shouldn’t have had but losing 3 pounds this week is excellent.

I am now 13 stone 10 pounds (192 pounds) and I am on the verge of reaching my target. However, Christmas hasn’t come at the best of times and to reach my goal soon isn’t easy. I bet I put a bit back on over the Christmas period.

For half of this week (week 10), I am going to go back on the exercise bike and from Thursday to Sunday, I am going to Switzerland/Germany so I want to enjoy my time away.

I will try to fit in as much exercise as I can for the remaining time of 2005 before full concentrating on reaching my target in the New Year.

RESULTS OF WEEK 8: My 5th time on the GM Diet wasn’t straight forward. With me being close to my target weight, I have slacked off mentally and them foods I should avoid are not being avoid. I stuck to the diet’s food plan but I didn’t drink the water intake of 5 pints a day – most days only 2 pints. On top of that, I ate chocolate over 3 days during the week as I felt I needed it. Of course, I should have avoided it but I had them cravings. My third sin was that I didn’t exercise as much as I wanted. Monday and Tuesday started fine as I did 30 minutes a day on the exercise bike, Wednesday I only did 15 minutes, and then that was it, I couldn’t motivate myself to do anymore on the bike all week. I don’t feel guilty for the lack of the exercise as I needed a break from the bike. I did, however, continue my 400 sit ups a day which I found rewarding.

This morning when I weighed myself, I expected to remain the same weight as last week due to not sticking to the diet. Still quite tired, I looked down with blurry eyes at the dial on the scales. I couldn’t believe it – the scales were reading below the 14 stone mark – 13 stone 13 pounds to be exact (195 pounds). A loss of 4 pounds in week 8 was a great bonus for me, especially as I felt like I hadn’t been true to myself or the GM Diet diet this week. Only 12 pounds away from reaching my target now. I have to be happy about that.

This week, week 9, I plan to do the GM Diet again. This time I will try and drink 4 pints of water a day, stay clear off any tempting foods, replace the beef steak with either chicken or lamb, do my 400 sit-ups a day, and maybe go on the exercise bike a little. This will be my 6th time on the GM Diet and it will be the last time in 2005 that I do the diet. I fly to Switzerland in my week 10 of the diet so I don’t want to be doing the General Motors diet then. Week 11 is Christmas week and can you imagine replacing the traditional turkey and mince pie with 8 bananas and 3 glasses of milk? No thanks! The following week, my week 12, is the same week we all celebrate New Years Eve. I would like to have a few drinks that night which goes against the GM Diet. Therefore, I will do the GM Diet again next year, maybe the first week of January.

I hope to lose another 3 to 4 pounds this week. In week 10, the week I go to Switzerland, maybe lose 1 or 2 pounds more. Week 11, I can’t see any weight loss so I hope to maintain my weight that week. Week 12, I will not over do it on New Years Eve so maybe a weight loss of 1 pound that week. My estimates suggest that by the end of 2005, I would have lost 44 pounds in total, with 6 pounds more to lose – that’s my aim anyhow. A safe prediction would be to allow myself a total of 15 weeks to reach my target. That would mean three weeks into the new year, I should have reached my target and maintaining my weight. The slower the weight comes off is fine with me as I know it is staying off.

So as I start week 9, I am upbeat and back on track!

RESULTS OF WEEK 7: Not a good week – even though I dragged my body onto the exercise bike for half an hour sessions, ten times throughout the week, plus I upped my sit-ups to 400 a day, I let myself go a little. I over did it with the foods I should have limited myself to. It wasn’t easy as I had seven friends around my house this Saturday. We went out for a meal and I ate healthily and still remained off the alcohol and drank mineral water all night. However, my downfall are peanuts and I got carried away with the honey coated cashews, etc. Weighing myself this morning, I knew I was in for bad news but surprisingly, my weight was still 14 stone 3, maybe 14 stone 3 and a half if I am truthful so I still have them 16 pounds to burn off.

This week I look forward to going back on the GM Diet as I have to remain off the tempting foods and not feel guilty like I did all last week. If it wasn’t for the exercise last week, I would have probably gained 2 to 4 pounds so it just shows, if you don’t remain focused, all your hard work will just be worthless within 2 or 3 weeks as you’ll put all the weight back on. Keeping the weight off is absolutely vital.

The positives of week 7 is that I went from a 38 inch waist in jeans to 36, and I have bought shirts in the large size and no longer need x-large. I still look well and my friends this weekend all commenting positively about how I looked. Still great to receive nice compliments. Week 7 was the biggest struggle yet but I believe it has come at a perfect time as it is a huge wake up call warning me to regroup again and lose them pounds.

I am not setting a time limit now to reach my target. Ideally I would have liked to do it before the end of the year but I am off to Switzerland on Dec 16th for a long weekend so I can’t be boring and diet that weekend. The weekend after is Christmas Day so I will try my best to watch my intake and then the weekend after that is New Year’s Eve so do I start drinking alcohol again then? Decision, decision!

I am going to do the GM diet for two weeks in a row again – this week (week 8) I am sticking to exactly what I should be doing and hopefully moving past 14 stone and get into the 13 stone something category. I hope to lose at least 3 pounds. I will do 7 sessions of 30 minutes on the exercise bike in total for the week and continue my 400 sit-ups a day. Next week (week 9), I will more or less do the same again as this week but maybe replace the steak for chicken.

I am so determined to make up for this week’s set back. I know I haven’t gained weight but I still feel that week 7 beat me, week 8 won’t though – I will get back on track!

RESULTS OF WEEK 6: Weighing myself this morning, I really didn’t know what to expect. I felt like I might have lost a couple more pounds and would have loved to have lost 4 pounds in the week. I stepped on them scales, in fact 3 times to triple check, and was delighted to see I had lost 5 pounds in a week, taking me from 14 stone 8 (204 lbs) to 14 stone 3 (199 lbs). I didn’t expect that. I am very happy this morning. The GM Diet was actually fun this week too. On the days I had to eat veg, I bought in a load of pre-packed stir fry veg and cooked it in a wok with olive oil, followed by quite a lot of soy sauce. In fact in a week, I went through a whole bottle of soy sauce. On the meat days (day 5 and 6) when the GM Diet tells you to eat steak, I went for chicken instead and cooking it as a stir fry was great. On top of the GM Diet, I went on the exercise bike for one 30 minute session each day which wasn’t too difficult. I also continued my sit-ups on the abroller before I went to bed, which I found incredibly easy. I have to say that I sailed through the week – the easiest yet.

As the weight continues to come off I am becoming more aware though that it is going to be a slower struggle now to burn off the remaining 16 pounds. I would love to do that within the next four weeks but a 4 pound loss on average for the next 28 days could be difficult, especially next week as I am going out for a meal on Saturday with friends. I have taken the decision to remain off the alcohol though until I reach my target. Still not touched a drop off alcohol since I started the fitness programme. For this week I am going to go on the exercise bike for a total of 10 sessions, like I did in week two, and hopefully lose 3 pounds doing it. I am going to be selective on what I eat too, although I can look forward to a decent bowl of cereal. I feel like my body needs more fibre. I realistically want to aim at another 2 pound weight loss taking me to 14 stone exactly.

I am mentally strong as I have been so far in six weeks. I am so determined to reach my goal and nothing is getting in my way. I want to reach it by Christmas Day ideally and then from that point on, enjoy Christmas and New Year, hopefully keeping the weight off. I would love to stay between 13 to 13 and a half stone (182 to 189 lbs) from that point on in 2006. Anyway, I shouldn’t look that far forward yet, I need to reach my target first.

RESULTS OF WEEK 5: My third time on the GM Diet was another success. The week went pretty fast too compared to week 4. I stuck to the diet, drinking 5 pints of water each day and keeping the beef in day 5 and 6 and not substituting it for another meat. It has got to the point that I don’t feel like I have lost weight but half way through the week, I stood facing a full length mirror with my top off and my stomach was as flat as I had seen it in years, the top part of my upper body wasn’t as flabby, I generally looked thinner. In my first 3 weeks, I noticed I was losing it off my face – my face reshaping back into an oval and not round, and in the last couple of weeks, I haven’t noticed a change in my face shape, but now my upper body.

Mentally I am still going strong, still very determined to reach my target. I said 50 pounds at the start, but my exact weight loss target should really be 48 pounds. This morning I weighed myself, admittingly, I felt a little nervous before standing on the scales. I really didn’t know what to expect. If I didn’t lose much, I think that could have really hit me hard, but thankfully, the scales were good to me. I weighed at the start of the week, 15 stone (210 lbs), and now I am 14 stone 8 pounds (204 lbs), another 6 pounds that I lost meaning I have now lost 2 stone and 1 pound (29 lbs) in 5 weeks. I am delighted by this week’s loss, the boost I needed to carry on in my battle of the bulge.

So I am past the half way mark and only 4 pounds off weighing 200 pounds. Usually I would continue my programme of one week on the diet, followed by one week of exercise, meaning week 6 (this week), I should be exercising. However, in two weeks time, I am having a meal with some friends and I don’t want to go to a nice restaurant knowing I am on my diet week. Therefore, this week, I am doing the GM diet again, two weeks in a row. It doesn’t bother me as last week wasn’t difficult (apart from not being very regular for the toilet, if you know what I mean!) On top of me dieting this week, I am going to continue doing my ten minutes on the stomach cruncher every night, plus 30 minutes a day on the exercise bike. It is the biggest tester of them all, dieting and exercising in the same week. I hope to lose another 4 pounds this week.

I’ll be back this time next week to post my results so hopefully I will be smiling as much as I am today.

RESULTS OF WEEK 4 – What a bloody hard week. Admittingly I probably treated myself a little bit too much with foods I should stay clear off, but I didn’t over do it.
Weighing myself this morning, I was disappointed as I lost only 2 pounds, which although is healthy and good that I am still losing weight, I worked so hard on the exercise bike. I did 2 sessions of 30 minutes each day, burning off nearly 15,000 calories. I was convinced I would lose at least 3 pounds. One theory is that I gained more muscle last week. Anyway, I shouldn’t complain too much. I am now exactly 15 stone which means I have lost exactly 23 pounds in 4 weeks. I still aim for 13 stone which means I have a bit to go yet. I think this could be a 10 week programme in total to reach my target.

This week I am going back to my GM Motors diet where I lost 10 pounds in week 1, and 8 pounds in week 3. Hopefully week 5, I should lose 6 or 7 pounds. This diet in also becoming famous in my area due to me. I have told friends and family how it works and I know of half a dozen people who have tried it or trying it before Christmas. I am actually looking forward to a week off the exercise bike. However, I will go on the stomach cruncher (ab-roller) every night for 10 minutes to tone my stomach.

To conclude this week, I am a disappointed by my weekly weight loss considering I worked so hard to lose weight but maybe I needed a week like this to make me realise it isn’t going to be easy to lose the final 2 stone. However, I wrote down an idea of where I want to be every Monday weight wise and I actually put 15 stone for today, which matches my predictions, so I am on target still.

RESULTS OF WEEK 3: I am slimmer, fitter and happier than what I was three weeks ago. Last week I lost another 8 pounds by going back on the GM Motors Diet. I discovered the diet online but it isn’t well known (to see the diet, read my first two posts). I replaced steak with chicken and cut my water down from 5 pints to 4 pints a day. Even though I lost 10lbs in week 1, the first time I did the diet, I was delighted with my 8lbs decrease this week (week 3). I started three weeks ago weighing 16 stone 9 pounds (233 pounds) and now I weigh 15 stone 2 pounds(212 pounds) which is a total loss of 1 and a half stone exactly (21 pounds) in only 21 days. Doesn’t take a genius to work out that that is a loss of a pound a day. I am delighted and feel so happy within myself.
Regarding exercise last week, I did ten minutes a night on the ab-roller (stomach cruncher) which made me discover muscles in my body I thought I never had. I did this work out every night before I went to bed and felt better for it.

The big test was two nights ago. On Saturday night, I went out with a group, mainly male friends, my drinking buddies. In the past, we’d easily sink 10 pints of beer whilst socialising together. Well on Saturday, the group sank 7 or 8 pints each, whilst I, stuck to water all night. Yes, I needed the toilet loads but it felt great the next day when I didn’t feel rough with a hangover. I haven’t touched a drop of alcohol for 3 weeks and I have to say, I wasn’t tempted on Saturday to have a cheeky pint, nor did I miss drinking a beer or wine.

The big buzz was that my group of friends gave me a lot of attention. “Wow, you have lost weight!”, “You look really good!”, “You’re skin looks great!” and they completely respected me for doing what I am doing. They support me every step of the way. I notice a difference in the way I look.
My face is beginning to form its proper shape again, from round to oval, less fat on my face, less chins. I feel cleansed inside and am taking more care with my skin – treating it – face scrubs and cream, giving it a healthy look. My stomach is a lot flatter with the clothes looking and feeling baggy. My pecs (or pie-ceps as I call them) are going down – nothing worse than man boobs and that’s a big positive.
My family have also been very supportive, with my brother doing the diet last week for the first time too, not that he needed to, and it amused me to see him going through hunger pains and chocolate cravings. The first time you do the diet, it is bloody hard, but to lose between 7lb to 10lb in a week is a buzz. You don’t have to exercise either but the expression, “no pain, no gain!” is fitting as you have to avoid all them temptations – crisps, biscuits, sweets, chocolates, fizzy drinks, general sugar fixes. I found chewing gum helped me get over my cravings.

So onto week 4. I am typing this on late Monday night/Tuesday morning after my first day of week 4. Today I cycled twice on my exerise bike – 2 sessions of 30 minutes. I went on level 8 again (out of 15) which is a fairly challenging setting. I burnt over 2100 calories today. You need to burn off 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound. Therefore I have worked out, if I cycle 2 sessions of 30 minutes each day this week, like today, I will burn over 14,000 calories, which is the equivalent of burning off 4 pounds. So although, I don’t want to predict each week how much I am going to lose, I certainly want to lose 2 lbs this week, taking me to 15 stone dead, but I am challenging myself to cycle twice each day, 60 minutes in total, and burn off 14,000 calories. Hopefully this time next week, I would have lost 4 pounds more. Fingers crossed!

RESULTS OF WEEK 2: After losing 10 pounds in week 1, I was determined last week (week 2) to keep the weight off and lose a little bit. I watched what I ate and avoiding loads of diary products and bread for most of the week. I exercised every day, some days doing 30 minutes, and other days, 60 minutes. In total I did 10×30 minutes on the exercise bike, burning off 10,500 calories. It was hard at times but felt good afterwards. I am a pretty strong cyclist so I exercised on level 8 (medium to hard level). I weighed myself this morning hoping for a 4lb weight loss but discovered a little less. I lost 3 pounds in week 2 taking my weight to 15 stone 10 pounds. At first I was a little disappointed but I soon got over it and was proud of my achievement. I have lost 13lbs in my first two weeks, just one pound short of a stone. I have to be delighted by this.

This week, week 3, I am avoiding the exercise bike and going back on the GM Motors Diet I did in week 1. However, this time I am drinking 4 pints of water a day, instead of 5, and I am replacing the beef steak I am advised to eat on day five and six for chicken. I don’t want to predict how much weight I am going to lose as this leads to disappointment if I don’t reach my target. Last time I did the week diet, I lost 10lbs. I would love to lose that amount again, as it would take me to 15 stone exactly but realistically, I think I can lose 7lbs. On top of my weekly dieting, I intend to spend upto 20 minutes every night on my ab-roller (stomach cruncher) to help firm my stomach.

I feel happy in myself and it is a buzz seeing the weight come off so easily. My mates know I am losing weight but I am playing it down a little. Socially I am being choosy avoiding certain nights out which are surrounded by alcohol. I haven’t had a beer since October 9th and intend to go two months dry which will help my weight loss programme and generally feeling good.

Reporting here every Monday is good as it gives me a journal of my weight loss. I just hope someone has read my posts too to give them a bit of inspiration.