A late plateau?

I'm about to pull my hair out!

Last week I was talking about the dreaded 'plateau' - where the body suddenly hits a weight and doesn't seem to be able to break past it - no matter how much exercise and dieting you are doing!

Well, I thought id smashed my plateau last week, because I reached the weight I normally hit it and managed to surpass it...

but now, since Friday..I have only last a 1 and a half lbs! ( and that result appeared on the Saturday! so technically, I've lost nothing since Saturday!)

I KNOW I shouldn't be weighing myself every day, but I do feel it's important to monitor what's going on in my body throughout the week...

It's weigh in day tomorrow and I don't know how I'm going to react if I haven't at least dropped another lb or at least half a lb! I know EVENTUALLY it will start to drop again past this plateau, but It's just very demotivating to say it stagnate when I have goals each week that I want to hit...

Right now I'm at 20st 6 and a 1/4 - my aim was to be 20st 4 and a 1/2 tomrrow, that isn't going to happen...hell, I'd be happy with 20st 5 and a 1/2 even! at least it's going down if that happened!

I might need to sit down later and evaluate my diet and exercise and see if there are any radical changes I can make that might shock the system a wee bit into burning more fat...

More hurdles to jump

Sorry for the lack of blog posts the last couple of days

I have to say my motivation has been slightly wavering this week. I'm doing something you should NEVER do on a diet, and that is weighing yourself every day.

I'm not recording those weights though...just the one on a Friday, but for some reason I like to mintor my fluctuations...even though its sometimes a motivation killer....

Since Friday my weight hasn't budged at all...even though I'm hammering the gym and eating a healthy, low calorie diet. I think perhaps either my plateau has hit at a different stage than it did last time or I'm simply putting on a lot more muscle mass recently due to my increased strength training routine

Either way the mantra I am trying to remember is that I'm doing everything right so scientifically I can't NOT lose weight...it's simply my body getting used to the weight loss I guess.

Hopefully this Friday I can at least post a weight loss of a couple of lbs...then I'll be happy!

A GOOD DAY FOR BUUUURNING!

After one of my designated days off yesterday - today has been a day for BURNING!!

Hammered the gym in the afternoon, cleaned my car inside and out, about to jump in a shower then it's off for a good hours walk with Louisa later on for extra toneage and calorie burnage!

SUPER keen to blast through the 20st mark down to the 19's within 2 weeks! Very doable I think! That would mean 3 lbs this week and 3lbs next week and we'll be WELL on our way to the first major goal of 17.5 stone!

This journey has been SO successful so far - I WILL not let it falter and I will not fail!

I won't give people the satisfaction of seeing me fail AGAIN. Not this time. It's too late for all that nonsense :)

Saturday off!

As I mentioned before in a previous post, my gym days off are going to be Saturday and Tuesday!

This way it breaks my week up a wee bit better than Sunday and Tuesday did...

I think the breaks off are definitely necessary! And not just because your body does need time to recover and repair from lots of exercise, but also from a motivational point of view too! I think if I went every day it would slowly start to become more of a chore or a task than something that I actually enjoy!

I think I'm making awesome progress so far! And the willpower hasn't faded one bit :)

As well as the gym I've been going on a few walks a week with my friend, this burns off an extra few hundred calories a week which is definitely a huge bonus! Not only that, but it's all in preparation for starting a running program in about 3 weeks time!

I tried running before, but as usual I went headfirst into it with no preparation and ended up screwing my legs up big time! Hopefully this time I'll be around 2 stone lighter and have a lot more stamina built up behind me too! I also have a running buddy who's very keen to start with me :) so it's all gonna be in hand very soon!

Still need to hit up JD sports and get some running shoes though!

WEIGH IN DAY!!!

NOW

As you may know if you've been following my blog I've been panicking a bit this week about something called a 'Weight loss plateau'

This is a very common thing with people trying to lose a lot of weight, it's sort of a pivot point in the body's own system where it think that there is actually a shortage of food...so instead of allowing you to lose body fat it tries to grab on to and conserve every ounce that it can to help you survive longer during this 'famine'...I guess it's something we probably inherited from our ancestors!

The weight I was at last week is BANG on where I hit my plateau last time that I was losing weight, and it took a good couple of weeks to break through...

However

This time I can officially say I SMASHED that plateau in the face!

This weeks weight loss is...

5 and a quarter lbs!!!

This is a HUGE weight loss for one week...but it is common when a plateau is broken that a large chunk of weight is lost.

I'm seriously happy with this...I've worked hard for it and EARNED it

There is still a long way to go...a loooong way, but to this date I have lost around 18lbs in 5 weeks flat!

Now I shall celebrate with a bacon roll, and once I've got myself showered and composed - It's off to the gym for another round of fat busting workouts!

Tomorrow is weigh in day!

It's been a very positive and good day!

I've eaten very well, and I've done another beasting gym session!

Tomorrow I will find out if I've broken the plateau that I usually end up hitting around this weight level...if I have, I should see a major weight loss result tomorrow morning! I'm pretty excited to post my results, but I'm afraid I'm gonna go back on my word about something...

I don't think I'm gonna post a picture every week regarding my results...

The reason for that is week by week there isn't MUCH difference, but maybe month by month there will be a much bigger noticeable difference! So I may periodically post a photo of myself :) but not every week

A good day at the gym!

Today has been successful! I've eaten well, and mixed up my workout at the gym a wee bit! It's been an all round good day!

As some of you know I'm still getting over a bad break up...and it has hit me a little bit today, but hopefully that won't last too long!

Weigh in day friday will be scary because I need to make sure I break this Plateau!

Loooong day!

It's been a pretty long day with University, and I've also been without my car all day!

It's been in getting it's axle replaced - but now it's done, WOW! Feels like a new car! So I'm pretty happy about that!

I've had zero time to get in any exercise today...but today is technically one of my rest days anyway.

Tomorrow a severe gym thrashing will be done! Same with Thursday...hoping that the weigh in on Friday will at least give me 20st10!! Anything more than that and It looks like I'm beating the dreaded 'Plateau' I spoke about earlier.

Food has been really good today, Low GI bread/toast with light butter for breakfast...tuna may sandwich for lunch, and grilled chicken/mushroom wraps for dinner! (with some tomato sauce and on wholemeal wraps of course!)

I've also been drinking water like CRAZY!! I think it becomes addictive to have a bottle of water with you all the time...it's definitely a good thing!

Anyway, time for chill out!

Taste of summer

It's actually a fairly warm and bright, sunny day in Aberdeen today!

This is kind of a little taste of summer for me...the summer I want to have involves me with a totally new body shape than previous summers, one where I can look as good as I've always wanted!

The Aberdeen weather can be funny sometimes though...and I'm just hoping that this isn't the ONLY sunshine we're going to see for the rest of the year! :(

On a more positive note, awesome gym session done today! :)

The dreaded plateau

I realised the other day that the weight I'm at right now is usually where in past attempts to lost weight I've struck the dreaded 'plateau'. 

The Plateau is when you hit a weight that you can't seem to break through without an extreme amount of effort...for me, last time it took 2 weeks to even see a slight shed of a difference. I'm hoping with extra effort this week I'll weigh myself on Friday to find that this plateau hasn't actually reared it's ugly head this time around...the only way I'll do that though is with MAXIMUM effort...this week is my WARRIOR week :D haha!

But for now, it is breakfast time!

See ya!

Oops!

So...I forgot to update my blog yesterday! D: How dare I!!

Yesterday was a tough day, I woke up feeling quite down and low on energy...But I'm glad to say I forced myself to go to the gym and powered through an awesome workout!

I had a pretty good night too, went for a goood long beach walk with my friend so that burned even more calories! I will admit, some of those were put back on with a cheeky vodka and diet coke afterwards ;) haha!

When I got home I had a wee bit of a late night snack...but I don't think I overdid it TOO badly...trying NOT to weigh myself every day is really difficult though, especially if I think I've fucked it up!

Today I'm still suffering from the cold and haven't decided if I'll go to the gym or just do some Dumbell workouts here instead...MAY be going for another walk later too!

All in all, progress is progress! 5 days til the next weigh in! :)

WEIGH IN DAY!

It's that time of week...WEIGH IN DAY!!

I think I was expecting OVERLY good results today, but at the same time I know I've been doing strength training too...so where I've lost some fat, I've probably gained some muscle...

Last week when I weighed myself I had GAINED a couple of pounds due to some big nights out and some bad decision pizzas hahaha!

So last week's weight = 296lbs (21st2)

And today....

293lbs and a 1/4! (20st13 1/4)

I am pretty pleased with that!! That's almost 3lbs off in a week...and to be honest, I've probably put on some muscle mass too!

I was unrealistically hoping to be 20st 11 today, because it would mean clearing a whole stone in 4 weeks...but hey, we are heading in the RIGHT direction, and the fact that my body is aching to HIGH HEAVEN is long lasting proof of that

I now reward myself with a bacon sandwich (2 rashers, oatmeal roll, thin spreading of flora buttery)

Today's agenda: Gym sesh and strength training once again!

The shred is well and truly on

Today - my body feels THRASHED!!!

After Uni today I went crazy in the gym and thrashed away 750 calories in cardio, came home, rested for a few hours then did a half hour dumbell upper body workout!

My...body...is...THRASHED!!

Seriously, its a painful but good feeling!

Had toast for breakfast, Hoisin Duck and Noodle salad for Lunch, and now I'm about to go scour the kitchen to see what can be rustled up for dinner! Hopefully something lean and meaty perhaps...but whatever it is, I'm starving!

Feeling like this is going to be a VERY good weigh in tomorrow!

Oh yeah, I should mention that - my weigh in results will be on FRIDAYS! :)

Powering through!

So I took my Illness today, and battered the hell out of it!

I got my dumbells out and did a good half an hour workout in my room comprising of dumbell squats, bench press, flys, Bicep curls, hammer curls and focus curls. Fair to say I was sweating a fair bit! So I rewarded myself with an awesome shower.

Now a LOT of my illness symptoms have gone! The main one though, the sore throat and cough is still fairly present :/ hopefully that sorts itself out! I'd really like to get into the gym tomorrow or go for a run - so I'm hoping that both the weather AND my illness clears up a good bit by then :)

Now I think I need an after workout snack, and then we'll see about dinner later on!

Time to become a warrior!

The Illness continues...

Ugh, I'm not entirely sure if I have flu, a cold or a chest infection! Whatever it is,
It hurts like a cunt, i cant breathe and i feel like utter utter crap!

I know as soon as i hit up some exercise im gonna be coughing and spluttering everywhere...so the only thing i can really do is try and fit in some dumbell exercises at home.

I gave myself a quick spot check weigh in today, not an official one - and things are on the decrease!! So I'm heading in the right direction :) I know weight fluctuates a LOT, but sometimes you just need to see something like that in the morning to keep you motivated!

Had 2 cups of coffee and a sneaky bacon sandwich for breakfast (late breakfast...pretty much lunch) but I was using small slices of multiseed low GI bread, thin spreading if low fat spread and only 2 rashers of bacon - so all in all I've had about 500 calories today :) I probably won't eat much now til dinner time where I plan on throwing a ready meal together, but I'm planning on keeping calories low today because I can't go to the gym obviously...

Complicated!

I can't wait until I'm in a position on this blog to post every single day saying 'Went to the gym, ate awesome, pwned loads of noobs - successful day!'

The most important thing I'm trying to remember is this is a long and careful process of transformation, it's not a quick fix or anything like that - It's a lifestyle change, that's why I'm not sticking to any faddy weight-loss diet - I'm simply eating properly, not starving myself, taking in all sorts of different foods etc.

But yeah, boring blog post I know! I'll make a better one later :)

Aaaand we come to our first setback!

I know it's only afternoon, but once again it seems fate likes to slow me down in my efforts!

Firstly, last night my body was aching and my throat was hurting...I thought, no biggy...I just need more sleep!

Couldn't sleep last night :/ and I also had a pretty important keyboard skills assessment 9am this morning, and a full day of Uni afterwards!

Woke up feeling absolutely gash...I have been struck down with a massive cold!

I braved the cold and went in for my keyboard skills assessment, and I got FULL MARKS! So I was pretty chuffed with that - but there was no way I could face a day of uni, I went back home...slept again, and now I'm just up at 14:30 in the afternoon feeling just as gash as I was earlier...

So no gym today :( but at least I've eaten very well today so hopefully I feel up to the gym tomorrow...or if I'm feeling better later I'll get the dumbells out!

Will make another update later!

A successful kick off to the week

Today has been good! :D

Even though I forgot my headphones for the gym, i nipped to Sainsbury's and bought a cheapish pair and headed straight to the gym after university!

Did a 700 calorie workout! And I might just do some strength training later at home too!

Feel soooo good for it! So good infact, that its another night for poor man's pizza! Still 300 cals left to use up for the day too!

Hopefully i can keep this gyming up for good now!

Poor man's pizza

So It's actually been a good day overall!

I completely rearranged and gutted my room for about 3 hours, that must have burned a good few hundred calories at least!

Not only that, but apart from the minor discrepency of more bacon sandwiches this morning (BAD!) I actually didn't eat much else until dinner time...

Aaah Dinner time. Now I have a story for you! Back when I had my own flat with an ex girlfriend of mine we were always skint, flats in Aberdeen aren't cheap! But whilst we were on a bit of a diet kick and wanting to save money too - I invented something I like to call the 'Poor man's Pizza!'

This is essentially a substitute for a real pizza, which we all know is MASSIVELY high in fat and calories...but the way we make the poor man's pizza is using everyday fridge ingredients, and the result is a REALLY tasty pizza...that's easily about 1/4 of the calories of a real one (granted, a real one is about 4 times as big...but ya know, it's like a mini treat in a way!

So to make the poor man's pizza!

. Take a wholemeal tortilla (I use Discovery brand) - 109 Calories

. Spread it with a light spreading of butter (This is to add that golden crisp to your base!) - est. 60 calories

. Take a tub of Dairylea or Philadelphia cheese spread and spread it on, not too thick! - est. 60 calories

. Take a bottle of Tomato ketchup (or to really go wild, BBQ SAUCE!) and squirt enough on to spread over the base nice and thin, not too much or it'll be overpowering! - est. 70 calories

. Toppings! Now, I opted to take a slice of honey roast ham and break it up on my pizza, along with half a chopped mushroom - but you can use chicken, more vegetables - anything really! mines clocked in at est. 50 Calories

. Put in the oven for about 10 minutes until the toppings begin to look nice and cooked, and the edges of the pizza start to turn a bit crispy


And there we have it! the poor man's pizza! A really pretty tasty mini-treat that feels like you're cheating - but when it clocks in at 349 calories, you are WINNING! So much win in fact, that I made two of them and turned one into a calzone style by folding it over ^^ - If I could be bothered I'd have had some salad with it too, but there's nothing stopping you!

So yeah, success in many ways today. Tomorrow I'm hoping to hit up the gym - wish me luck!

Shaky weekend

So I promised myself I'd be HONEST when I wrote this blog and not sugar coat everything (Sugar is bad for you!)

So last night about 2am, I did make a wee bit of a slip up and went downstairs and made a bacon sandwich!

I'll be fair to myself, it still didn't break the calorie bank for the day because I'd actually eaten very little yesterday, in fact, I didn't do much of anything yesterday! But still, eating at that time of night is never a good idea and to be honest, I could have made a better choice!

Today is also feeling a bit shaky, I mean...I haven't really been up all that long and it's already 14:30! I haven't eaten anything today but I really did hope that I'd wake up today in the mood for the gym or some form of exercise. To be honest, today is feeling like another lazy day. It's not good because the scales tell me my weight is creeping back up on me, that's largely due to the alcohol and pizza i consumed on a night out on Friday though I think haha!

So I think today, if it truly has been written off, I will at LEAST try and eat well. I have a lot of Uni work I have to be doing too so the day won't be a complete waste.

Tomorrow is Monday though, the day I plan to get back into the gym and kick this bad boy into overdrive! So lets hope tomorrows blog post will be one full of energy and spelling mistakes from the fact that I can't see through the sweat dripping through my eyeballs!

The last time

It's almost 2am and I cannot sleep at all! Spent the entire day doing absolutely nothing!

I initially planned to go back to the gym on Monday, but I'm starting to think I might give it a go tomorrow depending how I feel!

I've eaten pretty well today. Some left over stir fry from last night, had some more noodles later on too...

I may just take a moment right now to tell you exactly what my diet consists of

It's something that's ALWAYS worked for me, and it's simply called the Common Sense diet! (Self named - lol!)

I'm sticking to under 2000 calories a day and eating healthy sensible meals and snacks, combined with the gym visits and the strength training this resulted in a loss of about 10 lbs in the first couple of weeks so It's definitely working!

I realise its a lifestyle change, its not a short term solution...that's why i decided to do it this way instead of sticking to some fad diet I would eventually have to come off of!

Challenge 25

So, this is all very Cliche...but I suppose it's a good place to spill everything

I'm calling this 'Challenge 25'...you've probably heard that at some supermarket associated with buying alcohol...but the name just seems right for this!

As far back as I can think I've always been a bigger guy. It's never really affected my life in many ways because I've always been supremely confident and have tons of friends. It's never even gotten in the way of my love life, I've had lots of girlfriends...some amazing, some not so amazing.

Being the singer in a popular band too means I'm always getting praise and attention for my talents, so I've always had a high feeling of self worth...but in the back of my mind I've always known that the size I'm at right now is not healthy, and it's not attractive...don't get my wrong, I'd never change myself to please other people - but I would LIKE to look better for myself.

I think a lot of people who find the motivation and encouragement to lose weight comes from the fact that it DOES often get in the way of people's lives in a big way. They feel down about it all the time, sometimes it affects their confidence in a huge way and they feel socially cut-off or outcast because of they way they look

I've never had any of those problems, no one makes fun of me or slags me off because of my weight...so I've never felt that overwhelming emotional need to get rid of it.

But I am not happy with the way I look or feel myself, and I've tried for YEARS to shift this weight...but now it's time to really get serious.

On July 19th 2013, I will turn 25 years old...and I want to have made a SIZEABLE dent into my weight loss goals by then. I also want to go back to Alton Towers in summer too, and I simply WILL NOT go unless I have hit a certain target.

I'm a natural endomorph. This means, naturally, my body IS bigger...my muscles are huge, my legs are tight and toned, my forearms are ripping with definition. All my weight goes onto my gut, my face and my back...and my upper legs a wee bit too. With that in mind, I'm always gonna be a well-built person so I'm not aiming to get 'skinny' from this.

If I keep this blog up, I'll post pictures, I'll post results, I'll post when I've had bad and good days...hopefully I'll get some sort of a following, even if it's just a handful of people - that'd be awesome!

I've already managed to lose about 11lbs in the last few weeks, so my stats below are my current stats!

Current weight: 296lbs (21st2)
Goal for 19th July: 245lbs (17st7)