Weigh in Wednesday - Just about got away with it

Well always knew christmas is a tough time for weight loss and have gained weight. However its only a minimal 1lb gain so I'm actually quite pleased. To be honest expected it to be worse, I have definately eaten and drunk more than I should and was expecting a much bigger gain. The good news is that my weight is still within my targets so back on track this week and I reckon i'm still winning this battle.

Here is the facts :-

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight last week - 229lb
Weight Today - 230lb
Gain/Loss this week - +1lb
Gain/Loss from start - -8lb
Todays Target - 231lb
+/- Target - -1lb

Been thinking about New Year resolusions and reckon I should blog more so expect much more to read in the new year.

Weigh in Wednesday - Good result but now for the difficult week

A good weeke to report as I've managed to lose another 2lb but as the title say's now for the difficult week. Arguably Christmas is the toughest week of the year to lose weight but I'm optimistic I can cosolidate and stay within my targets. I'm actually 3lb within my target weight at present so that could prove useful.

Here is the facts :-

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight last week - 231lb
Weight Today - 229lb
Gain/Loss this week - -2lb
Gain/Loss from start - -9lb
Todays Target - 232lb
+/- Target - -3lb

Before I forget I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a fantastic 2011.

Weigh in Wednesday - We'll call it a draw then

No weight loss this week but no gain either, my weigh in reveals I'm exactly the same as last week. To be honest I'm a little dissapointed thought I'd done ok and was expecting a loss but it wasn't to be.

Here is the facts :-

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight last week - 231lb
Weight Today - 231lb
Gain/Loss this week - 0lb
Gain/Loss from start - -7lb
Todays Target - 233lb
+/- Target - -2lb

I have a bit of news on the dating front, I'll be meeting one of the Ladies I met on holiday, we've chatted quite a bit and have decided to have a weekend together in January (8th/9th) to see how things go. We got on really well in Spain so thought it makes sense to meet, we have a few things in common so I'm looking forward to it. We'll just have to see how it goes and how it works out, I'm just keeping a open mind. Watch this space.

I had a bit of pain this week, had problems with my wrist it really hurt and I couldn't grip anything. Luckily it was my left hand I couldn't use and as I'm a total righty it wasn't that inconvenient. Went to the Doc on Monday and he thinks it may be arthritus and gout and put me on some tablets, must admit its on the mend, much better today.

Weigh in Wednesday - Another week another pound

Got to say I'm quite pleased that I've lost another pound this week, ok not a lot but I actually didn't expect a positive result. Sure my eating as been ok but I ad two pool matches at the Pub Sunday and Monday, had a few beers more than a normal week but looks like I got away with it.
Maybe I've now got my eating about right, one pound a week is what I'm after, just got to maintain it.

Here is the facts :-

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight last week - 232lb
Weight Today - 231lb
Gain/Loss this week - -1lb
Gain/Loss from start - -7lb
Todays Target - 234lb
+/- Target - -3lb

Also can't let todays date go by without mentioning John Lennon, its 30 years ago to the date he was assasinated by Mark Chapman outside his New York department and his talents were lost forever.
So this is for John -



And of course we can't forget this weeks sporting moments, Fifa and their incredable voting system which will see the World Cups go to Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022. Both decisions are a joke and it certainly looks like a few blank envelopes have found their way into the pockets of the delegates. Everyone knows Russia is corrupt and run by the Mafia and as for Qatar I can't see how a country with a population of less than one million can run it and thats not even considering their June tempretures reach 50c which is far too hot for footie.
Ok I'm biased but Englands bid for 2018 was far superior to Russia and in my opinion I would have said Austrailia had the best bid for 2022.

Whilst talking of the Aussies and the fac a few of my friends on here are from that side of the world it would be totally unfair not to mention the cricket. Yes its the Ashes series, two tests gone and its one nil to our boys, in fact reckon we are giving Rick Ponting and his merry men a bit of a lesson so far.
So Ricky this is for you :-

Weigh in Wednesday - Its all about the white stuff

It certainly is all about the white stuff, snow that is and we are getting more than our fair share. I live in a low lying flat area and we get very little snow, in fact the local saying goes "If we get snow someone else gets it real bad".
Well this week we seem to have got a full winters worth, we are having record low tempretures, half the county is closed down, roads are inpassable so all you can do is sit it out.


Hell its only just got to december, we don't see snow this early.

Well on to the main subject of weight loss and its another pound lost, ok only a pound but I'm pleased although thought it may be more.

Here are the facts :-

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight last week - 233lb
Weight Today - 232lb
Gain/Loss this week - -1lb
Gain/Loss from start - -6lb
Todays Target - 235lb
+/- Target - -3lb

Anyway its only just over 6 month to summer so here are some songs to cheer us up -

Weigh in Wednesday - For the first time ever

Ok before anyone points it out today is Thursday not Wednesday but I didn't get back from Spain until yesterday evening so thought it pointless weighing until this morning at my normal time of day.
I did expect a increase as that always happens on holiday but for the first time ever I didn't gain weight, didn't lose any either as I'm just the same as I was last week.
Considering we were out socialising every night reckon this is a victory and I'm still in front of my target.

Here are the facts :-

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight last week - 233lb
Weight Today - 233lb
Gain/Loss this week - 0lb
Gain/Loss from start - -5lb
Todays Target - 236lb
+/- Target - -3lb

As for the holiday I really enjoyed it but it wasn't without incident thats for sure. It was to a real pretty area of Spain and was with a singles group. There was 45 of us although I think you could split them into two age ranges (young uns & old uns). Don't laugh I was with the young uns, yes my social range and about half the party I reckon was between mid forties and late fifties so it was good to sit in the middle of this group. Almost the rest of the group was retirement age and above (upto late 70's), apparently this is common at this time of year as its not too hot, just nice. Not that I'm ageist, quite the opposite I find it easy to communicate with people older and youger.

There was one poor girl in her late twenties on the trip who ended up one of the incidents, on one of our day trips to Nerja she slipped on some steps and broke her ankle. She spent the 2nd half of the holiday in hospital and needed a operation to pin her ankle.

Another incident we lost one of our party for 48 hours on another day trip, think he liked a bit of a drink and decided to go on a bender in Ronda and not come back for the coach. Spent his money on booze and couldn't afford the taxi ride back so ended up spending the night in a hostel rather than our 4 star hotel. Eventually our tour manager got him back involving the police and local bus services.

We also had a trip to the Alhambra Palace which was ok but not great in my opinion although others thought it was marvellous. The trip I enjoyed most was Gibralter, suppose because of its links to the UK and all our history, the barbary apes are really funny could hae watched them all day.

Ok with it been a singles holiday I'm sure you'll need to know if I met anyone nice of the opposite sex. Well I got on really well with one lady whom I found a bit special and we talked about meeting again but nothing cast in stone yet. We've texted a few times since we got back so who knows hat will happen, I'm confident in the least I've made a good friend for life.
To be honest there was a lot of nice people on the trip that I got on well with, swapped emails with a few, its nice to keep in touch.

Not had time to sort my photos out yet but will post when I do some beautiful places. Probably next week as I'm away again at the weekend playing TT for Yorkshire Veterans in the county championships.

Here we go again (week one)

Well here we go again my next weight loss campaign is underway, I've bought some scales and week one as been a resounding success.

Start Weight (9th Nov) - 238lb
Weight Today - 233lb
Gain/Loss this week - -5lb
Gain/Loss from start - -5lb
Todays Target - 237lb
+/- Target - -4lb

A big loss know but probably more due to been over heavy last week following my Blackpool weekend.
So its off to Spain for a week now so don't expect a loss to report next week although I'm hoping to exercise a bit so who knows. Next weigh in will be on my return (Wed 24th) then I'll keep it every Wednesday.

Eventually I'd like to get under 200lb and reckon I should aim at a pound per week average. If I can achieve my target at that rate it would be 3rd August when I get there.

Strange Song Choice

Have you ever been doing somethingon your own and started to hum, whistle or sing a song to yourself without any reason. Ok nothing unusual many of you will say and I'd agree its something I've done in the past as I'm sure many of you have.
However in my previous experience its normally something we've heard recently or a song from our all time favorite lists. This last week its different, I found myself on more than one occasion humming and singing two songs from "Simon and Garfunkel" Bridge over troubled Water album.
Ok I don't dislike S & G but I'm also not their biggest fan either, I do have the album bought it in the 70's on vinyl(if anyone can remenber vinyl records)and it is quite good. Strangely though I reckon I haven't played it or heard the songs concerned for 25 to 30 years yet I could recite all the words.

For the record the two songs concerned were :-
Baby Driver


Keep the Customer Satisfied


Now if somebody had asked me to sing a S & G song I would have gone for my favorite of theirs "The Boxer" which is on the same album.

The truth is revealed (ouch)

Just been reading back on my blog posts and the last time I actually weighed myself (before my scales packed up) was over two and half years ago. I didn't realise it was that long but in my last weight in the scales said 208lb but I also estimated the scales were 10lb out so called it 218lb.

Anyway to get to the point I've now nowhere to hide I've bought some new scales and weighed in this morning at a horrible 238lb (20lb increase, ouch), was quite shocked as was estimating 14lb less than that judging by how my clothes feel. I could make the excuse that maybe the old scales were further out than I thought but in truth whatever I'm too heavy.

To be fair I've had a heavy food and drink weekend which wont have helped, been in Blackpool playing TT in the Veterans National league and although the exercise was good the weekend is also social gathering and involved a couple of late nights, drinking, 3 course meals, big breakfasts, etc.
For the record our team did well winning 4 matches and losin one, we are 2nd in our section which is great (only one point behind the leaders). Personaly I did good winning 9 out of my 10 matches to lead the averages and it included a couple of wins over players ranked higher which was pleasing.

http://www.etta.co.uk/BritishLeague/VNL/2010-11/VNL110dall.htm

Back to the weight loss plan and I intend to weigh once per week on wednesdays and post on here to keep a record, thinking about setting targets which I'll decide after my Spain trip. Only difference is it'll be Tuesday this and next week then to wednesday on my return (24th Nov).

So here goes (again)

Does weight loss need to be painful ?

As all know I've been trying to shed a few pounds before my next vacation but it isn't happening without a few problems. First I'm quite pleased that I seem to be losing weight, certain items of clothing are starting to fit.

One health problem I'm prone to is gout, for those who get attacks they'll understand how painful it can be. Its problems with the blood having too much Uric acid whic causes a build up of crystals in your joints which then become inflamed. Since I started this weight loss attempt I've had attacks in one knee, both ankles and on wrist which in turn limits my physical exercise, plus I'm not keen on taking pills but am having to use a lot of anti-inflammetry pills and pain killers.

I'm thinking maybe I've cut back on the food intake too much and have lost weight too quickly. The things that cause gout attacks are :-
Eating certain foods (I have a list I avoid so this isn't the cause)
Eating too much (not in this case)
Dehyrdration (don't think this is the case)
Fasting, too low food intake or not eating regular (got to be the cause)

So how much should I eat ?

This is basically what I've been eating :-
Breakfast - (240cal total)
2*weetabix (130cal)
1/2 pint orange juice (90)
portion blueberries (20)

Lunch - (approx 300cal)
tin of Soup (140 to 220)
2*wholemeal bread (100)
or
Weight watchers meal (hotpots, spag bol, etc) (220 - 300)

Dinner (main meal) - (600 - 800)
Salad twice per week (approx 550 -600)
or
Meat, potatoes & 3 veg 3 times per week (approx 700)
or
Oven Fish & chips with baked beans & bread once per week (est 750)
or
Baccon, sausage, spagettii, tomato, jacket potato once per week (750-800)

I also have coffee without sugar in the afternoon and a sugar free dilute lemon drink in the evening so say another 50cal max, all other drinks are water.

So totaling that up my current normal day intake as been between 1200 and 1400 calories.

Now I'm not pretending to be some sort of angel, for a start Monday I play in the Pool league for the local pub so I have a few beers, I put that down as my treat night and occasionally I succumb at night and grap a little snack although in the main I've stuck to this eating regime for 3 weeks now.

With the gout problem I've made the decision I'm not eating enough so I'm adjusting slightly, for breakfast I'm going to have a extra weetabix (3 total) another 60cal and also gonna eat two pieces of fruit per day when feeling hungry (approx 100-150cal). That should add around 200 cal to my daily intake and eliminate long periods without food.

Hofully this will still result in losing weight (albeit at a slower rate) but without the pain rom gout attacks. The other positive will be the ability to exercise more so that should help aswell.

The bottom line is its a balance to me, I know that.

On another note reckon after my vacation I'll buy a new scale then I can monitor my weight properly and ot just rely on which clothes fit.