Back in December I dragged the Wii Fit out from under the sofa and did the Body Test. Boom. I’d managed to turn into a complete porker again – I put this down to the Honeymoon cruise in August (where we ate rich and wonderful foods constantly) and a general contentment post-wedding due to the fact that we’re both foodies (in the sense that we love taste more than presentation).
There was bugger all point starting some sort of weight regime before Christmas as it was setting myself up for a big heap of failure so I put it on the back burner and in mid January I started to examine my eating a bit more.
Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a moveable body.
: H. L. Mencken
The thing about losing weight for me is that I love food. And I dislike denying myself the luxuries. No surprise there. If my friends are over for a game, I’d much prefer to chow down on a take-out meal rather than wolfing down a ‘portioned’ meal (which is a little like trying to stem a flood with a packet of kitchen towels).
Loving the luxuries means having some sort of control elsewhere. So, I reduced my portion sizes across the board. Instead of having two packets of sandwiches every lunchtime, I reduced to one. I’m also using fresh fruit in work for snacking rather than a stock of chocolate (which was how I whiled away my time at $BIG_COMPANY – amazing how much chocolate you can swallow when you’re deeply unhappy about the day job!)
I’d also discovered that I have no idea what it feels like to be “satisfied” when eating. I know what “full” feels like because I could barely move afterwards and I didn’t like that feeling (and feel a little ashamed that I’ve experienced it too). So I spent a little more time examining my timing with meals. I’ve always been a vacuum cleaner for food – even when I was a skinny teen (which was a change from being a chubby toddler) – and the end result was when I hit my mid-20s, I filled out both in build and in bulk. Sorting out portions was therefore important.
I’d considered doing more exercise but that’s a struggle considering that I’m already pushed for time as it is and finding it hard to get to bed before midnight anyway. I followed Nigel’s 30DaysOfFit last year and I think I need to be a bit more serious about it. That’ll be something I look at more seriously after this coming week. I’m off to San Francisco for three days and that means airplane meals, hotel meals, an official dinner and effectively no control over the quality of food I eat. With the other things going on, it’s just too hard to organise eating as well.
So, that was the promise. Reduce my portions. Take my time over meals to rediscover “fullness”. Enjoy my luxuries because Life Is Short.
So, what was the result?
In two months, from around the first half of January, to the first half of March, I managed to lose 17 pounds (1 st, 3 lbs) – which is around 2 lbs a week – a healthy rate. This was calculated by using the Wii Fit – so I’m pretty happy with it’s reliability as it also tracks the last time you were measured and gives helpful and patronising suggestions. I have noticed that the clothes which fit me at my “heaviest weight” are now loose on me which is a real-world result.
I’ve set another goal of another stone by the first week of May. We’ll see how I go.