When I started the challenge in June 2009 I was 13 stone 10lbs.  Just under 18months later in November 2010 I was approx. 9 stone 12lbs. : D A year later (Nov 2011), I have managed to keep the weight off, tending to rotate around the 10 stone mark, somewhere between 9 stone 12lbs and 10 stone 1 lbs.

So, how did I do it?  I simply kept up with the gym (3 x a week) and ensured I was eating healthily.  Nothing strange, nothing extraordinary, just simple exercise and healthy eating.  I hired another Personal Trainer (the first one was rather unreliable).  My second personal trainer was excellent and I still use the programmes designed for me.  Although I stopped going to the classes, I completed my personalised gym sessions 3x per week.  Once I reached my target weight (10 stone), I dropped the gym going to twice a week but still kept a healthy diet.  I even started running outside and although I’m yet to reach my goal of 5k in 30min, I can run at a consistent speed for approximately 45/50min, hitting about 6k.  I am running more on the treadmill to increase the ease at which I can run at higher speeds, so over time I should reach my goal.  I haven’t run a 5k race, but feel happy just knowing that I can.  I may enter one when I reach my 30 min target, but I’m in no rush.

I can say for once that I am happy with my fitness and weight.  I could of course be even fitter (wouldn’t we all love to be as fit as an athlete) and my lifetime goal of a marathon still stands, but that is a lifetime goal which I am in no rush to complete soon.  When I am ready to start training for a marathon I know what I need to do to increase my fitness even further and I feel prepared and able to do that.  Just right now, I’m happy where I am! And that my friends, is a wonderful thing.

At the mo, in addition to weight loss, I’m trying to increase by ability to run.  I’m upping my time on the treadmill, and trying to keep running, instead of walking.  I know it’s prob not a particularly amazing target, but I’m going to try and run 5km in 30ish min.  At the mo, I’m hitting about 2.6/2.7k in 30min, but I’m not running it all, and I hit about 7km/hr max, but only for the last couple minutes.  Guess math wise, I’ve got to hit 10km/hr consistently.  Sounds easier said than done, but I can already notice an improvement in the amount of time I can run for.  I believe it’s one of those aspiring fitness targets that I can actually meet.  After I’ve hit my weight loss target – which has also become realistic in my head – instead of a ‘possibility’ as it was a few months ago, I’m going to start thinking seriously about running a marathon before my next age milestone, which is many, many, many, many years away.  I’ll prob start with a 5km run this time next year.  Btw, I’m hoping to reach my target by about May next year – I’ve finally realised that these things take time). But every pound down is spurring me to go on.  I know I’ve got a long way to go, but mini targets help – I’ve used mini targets throughout every area of my life before, and they’ve always helped with my motivation.  One thing I do need to work on is my ability to push pass the psychological ‘I’ve had enough barrier’.  I get it first off during warm up – you know when you start to get a bit warm, and your heart rate starts going up – I think ‘right I’ve had enough, let’s go home’.  I can get past that, it’s just the later one I’ve having trouble with.  I usually give up, which could mean taking down the pace of whatever I’m doing, but after I finish I know I could’ve given a lot more, and I know I kinda let myself down.  Furthermore, I know my body can go further, it’s just my mind that wants to stop.  In reality it’s early stages, so I’m going to keep working on it.  I’ll let you know how I go.

Weight wise I’m about 7.5pounds down.  My mini target is 10 pounds, which should take around 3 weeks.  That’ll actually take me to nearly the stone below (number wise), and then hopefully I should reach the next mini target of a stone overall, by the end of August.

So that may have been a little bit more than a quick update!  If I don’t update anytime soon, I definately will when I reach my next mini target.  Till then.

Currently deciding whether or not to go to body balance tomorrow.  Really want to do it at some point, but I have to work late tomorrow and may not make it in time.  Also, as I’ve been 2 days in a row, it might be good to rest a little bit – although body balance is more about stretching (i think) so I won’t be overdoing it.  Either way, I’ll definitely try to do it soon (I’ve got a whole year to try out all the classes!!), and my next gym session will most likely be on Friday.  I’m going to do spinning, but not sure whether to do the 30min one or the 45min one…

In other news, I’m keeping an eye on my calorie count (the bread and butter of weight loss!).  There are still days when I don’t even hit 1200 – hopefully this won’t have a detrminental effect on my weight loss (you know…the whole body starvation mode thing).  The amount of calories is usually dependent on what I have for lunch, but all my lunches fill me up – they just have different calorie counts which makes a huge impact on the total count for the day.  I’ll ask my personal trainer on Saturday…

Till next time.

Right so today I went spinning!!  It was soooo hot in the office today, I was tempted to not go, but you know it’s all about ‘making the effort’!  I went in about 20minutes early (wasn’t sure I could actually do that, but there were a couple people in ther already).  Found myself a good position bike wise, and waited for the instructor.  The people there looked pretty fit & my self consciousness nearly took over making me think should I be here, but then I remembered why I joined this particular gym – I don’t know anyone there, it’s got good facilities and looks really good.  Plus – I’m making the effort!  After a while a people of varying sizes drifted in, and I felt more comfortable.  Then the instructor came and I told him this was my first class.  He showed me how to set up the bike, and then another lady came over and said she heard it was my first class and she told me to be careful as in her first class she pushed too hard and tore a load of ligaments!  I told her I cycle, so my legs are used to the motion, and she said I’ll probably be fine, but still watch out, and it’s no problem to leave after 20 min (it’s a 45 min class).  I thanked her for her advice, and again begun to think should I be here again.  But I thought, as long as I take it easy and don’t push too too hard, it should be fine.  Anyways, the lights were dimmed, the  music started, and we began almost immediately (which took me off guard – I guess I was expecting some kind of introduction).  I was pretty much ready to leave during the first song…as it was hard!!  But I thought, no this is far too early to leave, I’ll try and make it to the 20 min mark.  We sat down on the bike during the second song, and I began to feel like I could make it to at least 20min.  To cut a long story short, the 20min mark came and went, the 35 min mark came and went, and I made it to the end of the class!  Once I got my heart rate up and increased my lung capacity, I began to feel more comfortable, and although it was still hard I was able to keep pushing (but not so hard as to damage my ligaments!!) and in the end really enjoyed it!  I plan to go about once a week.  I was tempted to go back later this week, but I must remember to not push it too much, other wise I could overdo it.

Oh, and another thing about spinning.  Everyone’s always telling me that spinning hurts, especially after the class, and you won’t be able to walk after.  This got me thinking, as if you warm down properly, a work out shouldn’t make you be unable to walk.  I noticed, that although at the end we stretched the muscles, we didn’t ‘walk it off’ (or spend time casually cycling) like I was told to do during PE class.  So…after spinning, instead of jumping in a car (which is what most people probably do), I walked it to the bus stop, and then walked it home from town – all in all about a 20min walk, which should have walked out any lactic acid in the muscles.   Hopefully I won’t have the ‘I’m unable to walk’ thing tomorrow.  I’ve also been told that your gluteus maximus hurts from spinning, but again mine is fine, and I’m used to a bicycle saddle from my cycling days at uni so it wasn’t a problem for me.

So that’s spinning done!  Another thing that goes hand in hand with excercise is diet.  I’ve gone back to healthy eating and no snacking.  And, although I said I’d never ever do it, I’ve come to learn that counting calories is actually pretty important.  Calories are actually the backbone to losing weight.  Consequently, I’m keeping an eye on them.  My personal trainer said he wanted me to aim for about 1500.  I’ve been noting down how much I eat, and if I’m counting it right, on a healthy diet and no snacking I only seem to hit about 1200.  Now, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.  Yes, eating less calories is a good thing, but I don’t want to let my body get into starvation mode, which will have a negative effect and cause my body to hold onto calories instead of allowing them to be lost.  I think, as long as I don’t feel particularly hungry, 1200 should be ok.

So, that’s it for today.  Spinning was good, and calorie counting is good to know.  Oh, and did you know there are 400 calories in 100g of flapjack!  I guess they’re not as healthy as I thought they were!  I still ate it though, as as long as I don’t go over 1500 it’ll be fine.  Plus the oats should have been good for spinning – slow releasing energy and all that…

Now just to work out what class I’m going to next…

If I’ve been this weight for a while, why now?  Well, I’ve also wanted to lose weight.  I’m not unhappy with myself per se, just unhappy with my weight, my size and my fitness level.  I have a pretty good self image, and a good level of self esteem despite my weight, but as I’ve always wanted to do something about it.  I’ve come to a decision that now is the time.  There’s no particular reason as to why now, I’ve just decided that it is.  While I’m still in my early 20s I’ve decided to kick myself into action, and actively do something about it.

In the first post I mentioned my new ‘make the effort’ commitment.  I decided on this about a month ago when I realised that I was pretty lazy, in quite a few areas of my life.  Take this one thing for example. I went down to London beginning of May, and realised that you have to make such an effort just to get anywhere!  It can take hours just to get to work or visit friends, and people do it all the time!  I live a 10min bus ride from my workplace, and although I was looking for another position (end of contract drawing close) I refused to look for positions that would cause for a long journey…so I decided I should make the effort and look for a job regardless if it requires one bus change!  I’ve got a job now, but due to a late start date, I should hopefully have a car, but I will be making the effort as the drive is probably about 30-45min away (in early morning traffic).

How does that relate to weight loss?  Well, although I’ve never been on a diet (I realised they were pointless many years ago, and simply opt for the eat healthy and don’t snack…although I don’t exactly keep to it), I have tried to lose weight in the past and understand the importance of exercise.  I’ve learnt a few things about myself, namely…

1) I like exercise…it makes me feel good

2) I’m great at doing some type of physical exercise once…but only ever once, as after that I can’t be bothered.  (I’ve been to the gym once…well actually that was 3 times…over 1 week; I went on a long bike ride…once at uni…once at home; I went on a jog…once; I went for a long walk…once; I did an exercise video…once!)

3) If I seriously want to lose weight, I need to be serious about exercise…and make the effort!

So to do that I thought about what I wanted my fitness routine to be like:

• I decided it should be varied so that I can try lots of things once (but on a regular basis).
• I decided I should have someone to push me over that ‘one time’ barrier.
• I decided I should have someone show me what I need to do to most effectively lose weight.
• I decided I shouldn’t be able to use the weather as an excuse.
• I decided I shouldn’t be able use the distance of the fitness place as an excuse.
• I decided to understand that what I wanted would probably involve a financial commitment, and I should think of it as ‘making the effort’.
• I decided to realise that there was no quick fix, and this will take a solid commitment of time, effort and energy over a number of months.

So with all that together I decided that I should make the effort and join a gym…but only if I got a personal trainer to push me.  So that’s what I’ve done.  They gym is a rather posh hotel fitness centre (but I got it at a rather good price!), and it’s about a 30min journey from my house (10 min if I drove, as I have to walk or get the bus into town to get another bus to the gym…it’s about ‘making the effort!’).  I’ve had one session so far with the trainer, seeing him again on Saturday, and I’ve booked on a spinning class tomorrow after work.  Trainers are expensive, and although I’m making the effort money wise, I’m also trying to save for a few things, so I’m planning to have a trainer for about a month (1 session per week, supplemented by various classes 2 or 3 times a week).  By then I hope to be in a rhythm, and with my new commitment I plan to maintain whatever my trainer plans…remembering to ‘make the effort!’  I’m on a 12 month membership, so although I’d love to reach my goal in 3months, I’ve got to be realistic and understand that this will take a long and possibly hard commitment, and 12 months sounds about right.

On that note, I’ve got an early start in the morning, so I’m heading to bed, and plan to make the effort to get up on time tomorrow…another one of the things I’ve become lazy about!  But what can I say…I like my sleep!

Oh…and why a challenge?   Because I like challenges & tend to rise ones set by others…so why not rise to one set by myself!

Well…

1) I’ve set myself a personal challenge (more on that later), and in the spirit of things I thought it would be a good idea to completely break out and do something I wouldn’t normally do…i.e. write a blog

2) My personal challenge…weight loss. It takes a lot to even say those words, as I usually try to deny them and go for ‘increasing fitness’. I do want to lose weight, and figured I’d start a blog to chart my progress.

3) Going back to point 1, this blog will mark a continuation of my personal commitment…’make the effort’.

So what will you read in this blog? I’ll chart my personal thoughts and feelings about my weight, while also updating it with my progress and goals.

I’ll try and update this every so often…probably once a week or so.   But until next time…let the journey begin.