April weigh-in

Starting weight: 10 st 7 lb

January weight: 9 st 10 lb

February weight: 9 st 0 lb (weight on 1st Feb would have been around 9 st 4 lb)

March weight: 8 st 12 lb

April weight: 8 st 7 lb (119 lbs or 54 kg)

Total weight loss: 28 lbs

I’ve gone quite a bit under my original 2018 target weight of 9 stones! The recommended weight for a 50 year old medium build 5′ 3″ woman is actually 8 st 10 lb so I’m slightly under the ‘normal’ weight for my height. I’m happy with this and would like to be able to keep my weight at around 8 st 7 lb rather than 9 st. The reason I originally set my target at 9 st was because I didn’t think I would be able to get below that weight!

Yesterday I sorted through my clothes and was delighted to find a size 10 holiday skirt which fitted beautifully! I haven’t been able to wear this for a few years and thankfully its one that never really goes out of fashion.

I’m consuming around 1200 – 1300 calories a day and still doing a huge amount of exercise most days. I’m anxious not to regain any of this weight and concerned that if I indulge in chocolate or cakes that I will lose my focus and the weight will pile on again…

A typical week of exercise for me at the moment is:

Mon: walk 5.25 miles to the station and back; spend an hour at the gym (700 calories burned)
Tue: work at home and go swimming at lunchtime (400 calories burned)
Wed: work at home and go swimming at lunchtime (400 calories burned)
Thu: walk to and from station and hour at gym (700 calories)
Fri: as above (700 calories)
Sat: walk around my local town (300 calories)
Sun: walk with a local walking club (750 calories)

This is more exercise than I’ve ever done so I’m probably fitter now than I was 10 or even 20 years ago!

A typical day of eating goes something like this:

Breakfast: a small bowl of bircher muesli with oat milk (300 calories)
Snack: banana (100 calories)
Lunch: Vegetarian soup from Pret (200 calories)
Snack: grapes/mixed nuts (200 calories)
Dinner: Sweet potato curry (400 calories)
Coffee: (100 calories)

The calories are estimated and rounded to the nearest 100!

Having received some helpful advice from my best friend (who is the same height as me and has had a similar yo-yo diet pattern over the years), in order to try and maintain my current weight I am going to do the following:

Stick to around 1200 calories a day during weekdays
Continue doing lots of exercise each day
Have treats and eat more at the weekends

And monitor my weight each week to keep a check and ensure it doesn’t start creeping upwards again!

Today I start my vegan month…

March weigh-in

Tasty grilled shrimp salad from Jamies restaurant in Chur, Switzerland

As my February weigh-in was late, there has been a gap of just under 3 weeks rather than a month between these two weight check points… but never mind… here goes for my weight on 1st March 2018:

Weight on 4th December 2017 (when I began my fitness campaign): 10 st 7 lb

Weight on 9th February (last weigh in): 9 st 0 lb

Weight today: 8 st 12 lb (56 kg or 122 lbs)

Total weight loss in almost 3 months = 23 lbs (hurrah!)

Small milestones are keeping me motivated… I had to buy a new belt last week and it was fab to buy a ‘small’ size rather than the usual medium which was too big! Yay!

I’m still keeping to around 1200 calories a day, together with a lot of exercise. I am either going to the gym, swimming or hiking several miles at a time which is burning up a lot of calories.

Having just spent 4 days in Switzerland, my calorie intake did jump a bit to perhaps 2000 calories each day… I allowed myself a few treats such as some gorgeous Swiss chocolate and *lovely meals out each night but did so without going over-the-top. While enjoying the meals I stuck to one glass of wine and no dessert 🙂

*The healthy salad in the top picture was the first night… the following evening meal was a calorie busting home made pasta with oodles of Swiss cheese…

Thankfully I had the motivation to cut down as soon as we got home and I’m now back on 1200 daily calories…

The next dilemma now that I’ve reached my goal weight is how to stay there… I don’t want my life to be ruled by calorie counting (although I do only estimate this each day) but I really don’t want to regain any of this lost weight…

And today I start my vegetarian month…

February weigh-in

Progress update…

A little late for my February weigh-in as I’ve just returned from the Maldives, a special holiday to celebrate my 50th birthday which happens to be tomorrow! As I didn’t have any scales with me I was unable to weigh myself on 1st February, i.e. the first day of each month being my planned 2018 weigh check days.

Throughout January I remained highly focussed and committed to achieving my goal weight of 9 stone (57 kg or 126 pounds). I did extra exercise when possible and stuck to an average daily calorie intake of 1100 – 1200 calories. Some days I burned an estimated extra 600 – 700 calories, for example, by walking 5 miles in addition to spending an hour at the gym. On these days, rather than eating more I stuck to my 1100 – 1200 calorie regime which I think must have accelerated my weight loss.

Almost every day I either went swimming, went to the gym or walked for several miles. When I went out for meals I chose salads or low calorie dishes and mostly had either no wine or one glass of wine. Rather than drinking cappucino’s I now drink fruit flavoured tea when in coffee shops.

So a huge effort was exerted throughout January… I even managed to have a healthy holiday! Rather than a complete blow-out I went to the gym, did yoga, went snorkelling and swimming every day and was careful to eat healthily for example by sticking mainly to proteins, vegetables and lots of tropical fruit. I also had 6 alcohol-free days!

These are the results…

Weight on 1st January 2018: 9 stone 10 lb (62 kg)

Weight on 9th February 2018: 9 stone 0 lb (Hurrah! Bang on and just in time for my big 5-0 birthday tomorrow!)

January weigh-in

OK, so I’ve made a commitment to myself to get to a weight of 9 stone and actually stay there for a year in the hope it will turn into a long term habit!

Since the age of 15 my weight has yo-yo’d up and down between a svelte and somewhat skinny 8 stones to a rather more cuddly 10.5 stones. At only 5’3″ tall and of medium frame apparently at my age my target weight is 8 st 10 lb.

Various factors have influenced my weight fluctuations over the years but mostly it has followed a similar and rather neat orderly and circular process:

Realise I’m getting a bit chubby and clothes becoming tighter
Decide I need to ‘nip it in the bud’ and lose weight
Lose weight
Get to desired weight
Get complacent and lose focus
And back to 1 again…

This little cycle has been the summary of my weight for the best part of 35 years!

About 5 years ago I had a shift of mindset lightbulb moment and rather than dieting focused on the blindingly obvious “eat less and exercise more”. By making a conscious effort to have smaller portions and take up more exercise I actually managed to hover at around 9 st 2 lb for over 3 years.

However this became rapidly undone when my husband Chris and I spent 2016 travelling the world and before I knew it, I was at 10 stone again… and failed miserably to shift this additional stone throughout 2017…

So how can I reach a permanent and healthy weight of 9 stone?

With my 50th birthday looming I had a sudden desire to kick myself up the backside and shock myself into a healthy weight loss programme. This shock happened on 4th December 2017 when a health check at work revealed my weight had crept up to 10 st 7 (eek) and my cholesterol was on the border of high!

A bit of Googling suggested that a high cholesterol can lead to all sorts of unpleasant health issues most notably heart disease and strokes.

This, together with the desire to feel fitter, have more energy and generally improve my overall health prompted me to join the work gym (instantly) and take up swimming (the following week).

Since 4th December I immediately increased my exercise levels with gym sessions and swimming which motivated me to eat properly and reduce the alcohol, sugar and bad carbs from my diet.

So I’ve had a bit of a head start and thankfully I’m not starting 2018 at my highest ever weight!

Weight today: 9 stone 10 lb (62 kg)

Still a little way to go but I’m pleased with this… my next weigh in will be in February 2018…