Well today is the weigh in day for the Go Smell the Flowers weight loss contest I mentioned in my earlier post entitled Goodbye Store Bought Pizza It Is Time To Get Fit. So I stripped down and looked like a beached whale. I jumped on the scales and waited for the reading. The final readout was 144.4 kilograms (318.347 pounds).
I was not surprised I have been around this mark for ages. Briefly before Christmas I broke through 140 kgs, but Christmas being as it is I am now back above that mark. For some reason converting it to pounds has proven an eye opener and is a further driver for this old tub of lard to get up and do something about it.
The strategy begun at the beginning of the week with the reduction of coffee in my diet. It has been directly replace by copious amounts for cool fresh water. Courtesy of my 1.5 litre Grolsch bottle I can easily gauge my consumption. On the first day of implementing the strategy I drank 2 cups of coffee and 4 litres of water. Yesterday I drank 1 cup of coffee and 5 litres of water. Today, with 6 hours left I have consumed 1 cup of coffee and 2.5 litres of water. I expect that by days end I will be around 4.5 litres today. I am already feeling better about drinking water and have noticed that the cotton mouth I usually get is on the decline.
I also have cut back on the intake. Last night the meal was Spaghetti Bolognaise. Now I am not a fan of the dish, but would normally consume at least a second helping. Last night I consciously decided that i had eatten enough after one helping. Later in the night I did have a munch on a bread roll and some of the remnants of a Christmas cake, but I would have done that normally anyway. I am now reteaching myself that one portion is enough and that I do not have to consume it because it is there. That is primarily how I have gotten into the beach ball shape I am today.
Healthier and leaner alternatives have also been introduced to my diet. The first such alternative replaces butter and margarine from being spread on my bread. I never used to have it on the bread, however started to again in line with the rest of the family. So instead of butter or margarine I am going to be having nothing or avocado. Avocado is one thing I used to despise, but after being with socko and trying it I find I quite like it, so much so that I am going to try and grow my own.
I have never been a breakfast consumer, bad I know, and that is something that I will be endeavouring to change over the coming days. I am planning to go with Up and Go which has been recommended to us by a dietician in the past. It is a milk based drink that contains the equivalent of a serving of Weet Bix. So it is healthy and low in the GI scales. I was almost being good in its consumption last year, but have fallen back into old habits. It is now time to shatter those habits.
There has also been the conscious avoidance of naughty food that if consumed now will simply end this. For example, my niece is staying over night and went to Sugar Fix today. Sugar Fix is a candy store that gets a lot of overseas candy in, primarily from the US. My niece has literally been falling over herself to share her goodies, which does make me proud, however I have had to turn her down flat each time. I know that if I have one I will have a hundred, and thus defeat the purpose of this challenge.
Exercise has also begun. Last night I begun with a brisk 15 minute walk around the local streets with my iPod pumping the tunes. Whenever a slow tune came on it got skipped to keep me moving briskly. Yes I know that sounds corny but it worked. On the length of the walk I know it does not sound like much, but when I am used to do nothing at all it is an infinite improvement. In fact last night it was so late that I could have quite easily skipped it, but I didn’t. I also managed to score a nice garden pot and a perspex container to use as a mini hot house from the imminent council cleanup.
Today, I sacrificed my lunch break and went for a 30 minute walk around the streets in the next suburb. As it was 27 degrees C in Sydney today I managed to get the heart rate up. I actually intended to go for a 20 minute walk, but the route I took was untravelled previously and had a couple of long steady inclines. I thought that was great and will be going that way again for sure. Also, as a bounty on this run I collected about 6 pots that were being scrapped on the council cleanup. I intend going for another walk a bit later in the evening when it has cooled down a bit.
I will also be getting my bike out later and cleaning the spider webs off of it. I also need to fix the brakes on sockos’ push bike so that she has some. We will then begin riding around the neighbourhood aswell. Probably also with my sister tagging along and my Mum on her tricycle when its modified. It will be a pleasure going around as a family, although that will mean the iPod being left at home.
By no means am I on the complete road to gaining control over the blubber that is my belly, but I have made a promising start. I now need to maintain the momentum for a few months and ensure that the current activity is not in vain. Thanks again to the Go Smell The Flowers crew for giving me that final nudge to take action. Also, many thanks to all the kind commenters that have stopped by so far.
