Look at me now

On January 7th 2008, I weighed in at 121 KG or 19 St 1.

A ridiculously large figure considering I'm only 5 ft 10. Over the preceding festive period, I had made the very conscious decision to get my weight down. I had been gaining weight solidly since...well forever really and this all culminated in my monstrous figure quoted above.

I had, half-heatedly tried to ‘diet' before and they all fell flat, however I did have a vigour that had been absent previously. I set myself the hugely ambitious target of FOUR stone. I started the Slimming World ‘diet' on the recommendation of a friend that had done well on it in the past. I read the book completely but largely just used the concepts of the diet though. The structure of red and green days and the sin system gave me the framework to start and after a fortnight I was in a routine. Other than self discipline, this routine was the most important element of the first few months.

Of course any drastic change in my diet was going to produce drastic results and this proved to be the case, by the middle of April I had lost three stone. However by then I was VERY bored with the whole thing, I was bored of not having had a drink and bored of not having had a sandwich. I decided to take a break.

By June I had rediscovered my vigour but importantly I had made the decision to tone down the SW diet. I started looking at the concept of healthy-eating as opposed to dieting. There is no way that any normal person could have lived their lives as I had for those first months, with literally the only bad thing in my diet being a little oil to cook my chicken or veg.

I still kept the rough structure of red/green days but I allowed myself treats, days/weekends off and alcohol (in drastically pre-diet reduced moderation), sweet-stuff and dauphine potatoes! This made the whole thing bearable but of course the weight loss was never going to be as drastic.

By the start of December, I finally got down to the four stone lost figure. Despite reaching my target I was still not happy and knew that next year (2009) I was still going to lose more. I also knew that my current structure was not going to keep me interested for another year.

Alas I sought out Chris, I knew that I didn't need a personal trainer per se but I would need a training plan that was more intensive and importantly shorter in time than running 5/6 miles. After a consultation, Chris put together a plan that would achieve my new aims of intensive fat burning and muscle toning. It took me 2 months to fully come to terms with the intensity of the circuit but most importantly it kept me interested.

Coupled with this new circuit training and after research over the festive period (2008) I changed my diet to a simpler calorie counting healthy eating plan. Of course in my opinion it would be pointless to increase the intensity of your training and then let yourself down with your diet.

As such my diet is very strict, with a low carbohydrate (only on gym days), high white meat/fish content. High fruit and veg consumption and limited red meat intake. Importantly I drink no fluid other than water/squash of which I drink 6-8 pints non gym days and 8-10 pints on gym days. I will aim consistently to consume between 1600-2000 calories a day, eating 3 main meals and 2 snack ‘meals'.

My aim was to lose a stone in weight by the time of my birthday in April. I have already exceeded this and have also (which I'm very pleased about) shed 5% body fat since early January. I still aim to lose another stone and continue to take my body fat below its current total of 12.9%.

I fully appreciate that the strictness of my diet and exercise regime is not for everybody but there are some very simple rules that anybody wanting to lose weight should use.

• Remember simply that losing weight is about using more calories than you consume. Don't get hung-up on diet this and diet that.
• Exercise is imperative!
• Drink plenty of water/squash, limit your alcohol and fizzy drink intake.
• Make sure you eat breakfast.

I would like to extend a very sincere thank you to Chris at Trojan for his continued support and knowledge throughout my training. His help has been essential.

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