Friday, October 21, 2011

Two weeks in

And things seem to be working.

Two weeks in, and the diet change alone and some minor moderation of alcohol intake, and my weight has dropped 5 lbs.

Biggest change has been eating during the day: no chocolate has passed my lips in the office - unless you count a swirl on top of a fruit fool pudding one day.

Breakfast: cereal bar, if anything.

Lunch: typically a healthy hot meal (often vegetarian option), or dessert allowed if I have a salad.

Snacks: 2-3 pieces of fruit, and another cereal bar.

Dinner: whatever's on the menu at home, cooked healthily.

Max one glass of wine before the meal is finished. I've figured out that my normal (very large) glass filled to it's widest point is about 1/4 bottle or 187ml, so I'm generally putting less than this in and savouring it and having some left. Still more than I should be drinking if I'm at home every night, but reducing without feeling deprived.

Am out with a friend of Saturday so it might get blown out of the water. Tough. Life's too short.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I appear to have been away for a very long while

And not only am I back where I started at 19st 7, my blood pressure is far higher than it should be. Like, 170/100 this morning (even call it 160/95 when you factor in the white coat effect, it's still Far Too High).


Some things need to change around here.


And some things have changed while I've been away. And under that heading, WeightWatchers have changed their plan to something complex and impenetrable. I can't figure out their ProPoints in my head like I could with old points.


Secondly, the "OK, the diet is finished, let's go back to normal" approach clearly didn't work. This needs to be about creating sustainable habits.


So, I'm trying a less "diet oriented" approach to losing weight this time around.

I have a basic plan - breakfast, lunch and dinner, that will be "healthy" - minimal fat, control of carbohydrate and meat portion sizes, and in line with what I'd eat if I were actually following the diet, and a budget of "treats" for the week. That includes things like chocolate, a few glasses of wine, and "good treats" - fruit, cereal bars, etc.


I will be restarting the "hacker diet" daily weight tracking, and this time using it as feedback to moderate the number of treats to find a balance between being comfortable and losing 2-4lbs/month.


I am trying to kick the habit of eating chocolate at work, taking fruit and lower calorie cereal bars as a replacement.


I will be reducing alcohol - aiming to be consistently under 40 units/week. That's enough of a reduction in calorie intake on it's own to set the trend going the right way.

I'm also stocking up on low-calorie soft drinks. I need something I can drink as much of, whenever I want. Soda water and lime is a good start.

Target: based on body fat, I have been advised that 16-17 stone is a reasonable target weight for me. Much less would be difficult to attain without a LOT of exercise. Stuff that. Stuff the whole BMI thing where the sun doesn't shine. Actually, the target will be more in terms of maintaining a healthy blood pressure - probably at or under 135/75 but I need to discuss that further with the doctor. (140/85 is considered the normal target according to http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/.

Interestingly there's considerable variation in the BP reading. At the surgery this morning it was 170/100. This evening at home it's 154/87. I think I need to find a day when I can check it hourly through the day, and/or compare the readings on my home meter with the one used by the doctor.

The name of the blog is slightly irrelevant now: I'm not bothered about BMI, I just want to get my blood pressure under control without drugs.

No, I didn't just come up with that when I sat down at the keyboard. I'll fill in some of the blanks as time goes on.