Goodbye 2014...

So, time for an update to the blog.... it's about time.

First the diet, I discovered that it wasn't very interesting blogging about not eating very much a couple of days a week (and it wasn't very interesting actually doing it either) although it did yield some positive results.

My last (pre-Christmas) weigh-in was on 20th December when my weight was 141.2 pounds, body fat 21.7% and waist 32.5". So that's 12 pounds lost, 4.7% reduction in my body fat and and 2.5" off my waist. Considering I lost motivation and didn't properly fast towards the end of that period I'm happy with the result and am now in the market for some smaller jeans!!

So, what next? I haven't really decided whether I'm going to fast in the new year after two weeks off for Christmas but I have decided that I want to start running again. Looking back at my training log the last time I ran was May 2013. I was sure that I had been out at least once in 2014 but apparently not so after 17 months of being a lapsed runner I really want to get back in the saddle (or at least into the running shoes) and get my fitness back to a level where I can start entering races again with an ultimate goal of running a marathon again one day.

I'm hoping that I can manage to keep this blog more regularly updated, hopefully with progress updates on my running and life in general but we'll have to see!

So for anyone that reads this, hope you had a great 2014 and here's to an even better 2015!

Happy New Year!

An Update

So just over two weeks into The Fast Diet and what have I learned, apart from that I obviously lack the dedication needed to keep my blog regularly updated!

Firstly, fasting at work is a lot easier than doing it when I have a day at home. In fact I barely even notice. It helps that I'm ridiculously busy at work at the moment so don't really have time to think about whether I'm hungry or not.

Secondly, grilled chicken can get boring quite quickly, and I'm only eating it once a week as the other fast day I have been cheating and falling back on using low calorie ready meals.

Thirdly, the weekly weigh-in/measurements have thrown up some interesting and unexpected results, which seems like a good time to move onto the results and due to my lack of updates there are two weigh-in days to cover.

The first week results were as follows:

Weight: 10 st 11.2 lbs / 151.2 lbs / 68.6 kg - Two pound loss :-)

Body Fat: 25.9% - 0.5% loss :-)

BMI: 23.9

Waist: 35.25" - Quarter of an inch gain :-(

So all good news except from the odd gain around my waist. Now wrapping a tape measure around myself probably isn't the most accurate of ways of measuring my waist so I'm inclined to put it down to variance in positioning of the tape measure as there has definitely been some weight loss!

Which brings us to the measurements from yesterday:

Weight: 10 st 11.8 lbs / 151.8 lbs / 68.9 kg - Gain of 0.6 pounds :-(

Body Fat: 24.3% - 1.6% loss :-)

BMI: 24

Waist: 35" - Quarter of an inch loss :-)

So initially disappointment as I have put a bit of weight back on but pleasantly surprised that my body fat has continued to drop. Now I know that muscle weighs more than fat and I would love to think I have replaced fat with muscle but the fact I haven't been exercising means I think this is unlikely. Also my waist is back to where it started or possibly there is just no change.

Bit of a mixed bag really, was hoping for another two pound loss so the gain was quite a big disappointment but softened by the reduction in body fat.

Going to stick at it though and see what happens and will try to increase the frequency of my updates!

Fast Day 2

I'm coming to the end of my second fast day so time for an update. I was planning on posting sooner but life has got in the way!

I made it through my first fast day relatively unscathed although did learn a valuable lesson in that deciding only to have some veg with my chicken breast was not a great idea. The chicken was about 160 calories leaving me over 200 calories. At this point I realised just how much veg would be needed to make up 200 calories, suffice it to say I don't want to see a cabbage again any time soon!

My usual fast days will be Monday and Thursday but as I had a wedding to go to yesterday I switched it to today. Breakfast this morning was a poached egg and a slice of toast, definitely need more practice at poaching eggs but apart from that a successful breakfast. Felt quite hungry today but made it to dinner time and cheated by having a low calorie chilli con carne ready meal that came in at just under 400 calories. I'm starting to feel hungry again now but, oh well, it will soon be tomorrow and I can eat normally again.

Won't be long now until my first proper weigh-in and waist measuring session and we'll see whether there are any early results. I must admit I did have a sneaky go on the scales mid-week and was a pound down on my starting weight so fingers crossed!

Time to chill now, bit different from a usual Friday night, no beer or munchies, glass of water and a film anyone?

A New Week, A New Me?

So, despite the name of my blog, which incidentally is my first attempt at a proper blog, the motivation for starting it is something specific... losing weight.

Today is my first day on The Fast Diet and in an attempt to track my progress and keep me motivated I thought I would blog about the experience.

I'm not massively overweight but could do with losing a few pounds and reducing my waistline and as the Fast Diet seemed to fit with my general approach to dieting, i.e. little planning or preparation needed, I thought I would give it a go.

So it is that on this wet and miserable bank holiday Monday I am now officially on the Fast Diet. For the record and for comparison my vital statistics as of the morning of 25th August:

Weight: 10 st 13.2 lbs / 153.2 pounds / 69.5 kg
Body Fat: 26.4%
BMI: 24.2
Waist: 35"
Neck: 15.5"

My plan for my fasting days is to have breakfast and dinner and roughly split it so that I have 200 calories for breakfast and the remaining 400 calories for dinner.

Breakfast this morning consisted of:

Aldi Harvet Morn Swiss Style Muesli (No Added Sugar) - 30 g / 110 calories
Milk (Semi-Skimmed) - 45 ml / 22.5 calories
Aldi Optifit Active Low Fat Yogurt Drink (Strawberry) - 100 g / 75 calories

So a total of 207.5 calories leaving me with 392.5 calories for my evening meal which will consist of a grilled chicken breast with accompaniments to be decided!

I also had a cup of black coffee, no sugar, with my breakfast which doesn't count for any calories and seeing as that is how I take my coffee anyway that is a bonus.

I'm not sure at this stage whether being at home on a fast day will be a blessing or a curse but time will tell on that one.

Anyway, that will do for now for my first of hopefully many more regular posts detailing my progress and maybe any other random stuff I feel like blogging about.