My Blog- Keeping down my weight

Here is my story and I hope I will be able to update you as I start my journey towards keeping fit and hoping to lose at least 2 stones in the process.

I am not very keen on dieting and find the gym very boring. Growing up, big was good. I love being big because it meant that people have to think twice before trying to bully me. It made me look strong and powerful.

I have never been a slim person, but I have always been reasonably active and never seriously considered what I ate or at least not deliberately. If I liked it, I ate it. By the way, I don’t mind activities like tennis or dancing, but I hate exercises and gyms. I just find them point less. I would rather take on a more hands on volunteering work, gardening, cycling, even swimming or grass cutting than go to the gym or exercise, never enjoyed it and as I get older I find the thought of getting ready to go to the gym unpleasant.

A few years ago, I sold my part time business running a night club. The stress of one full time and another part time made sure that my weight was in check until I sold the business. My weight increased exponentially to nearly 19st as I took comfort in the food that I had missed whilst running the night club over the weekends. A slight remark by a colleague brought the reality home and through walking and drinking plenty of water, I brought it down to a manageable 15.5 st, but that was about 3 years ago, since then, it has gradually climbed back to 16st 10lbs last week.

Then I went for a test and the reality dawned on me when my blood pressure showed that I am now borderline suffering from high blood pressure and unless I do something, I may need medicine to control by blood pressure or stand a risk of heart attack, stroke etc. With a BMI in excess of 33, I am now obese. I still think the word ‘obese’ is seriously overuse, but the risk of hypertension and serious health issues is definitely no joke, so despite the fact that I play tennis a couple of times a week, it is obvious that there is something wrong with my breathing as I find myself breathless just warming up to play tennis or after a few minutes of walking. The doctors must be right, there is something wrong with me that needs to be corrected and quickly.

I work from home, so most times, I am immobile on the phone or my computer, drink plenty of teas and coffee and overall eat a huge portion of food. I was brought up to clear my plates, but I didn’t stop there, I cleared everyone else’s as well. A sign of a great appetite my mother and grandmother used to say and I enjoyed eating very quickly indeed.

Why am I telling you all this?

I am on a journey to keep fit and stay healthy. I am not dieting (another word I dislike).

Here is my commitment and now that I have put it down in writing, I have to keep to it. It doesn’t matter how many people get to read this, but it helps me to get rid of my demon and my obsession with the size of the meal that I have and my constant snacking out of boredom.

The plan is to drink plenty of water, most of the time when I snack, I could have done with just water or go for a walk. I love music, so I have recorded my best tracks on to an MP3. I plan to walk twice a day for at least 30 minutes in the mornings and the same in the evenings at least 6 days a week. I also plan to reduce my current portion of food by at least 25%, the overall plan is 50%, but if I take such a drastic action too quickly, I will just fall off the wagon again. I believe that this should result in me losing 2 lbs a week.

My starting point is 16st 7lbs on the Sunday, 16th October.

I will keep a weekly diary of events here.

Here are the things that I have in place to help me on my journey to long term fitness; the wii, a rower, static bike, mountain bike, some weights, a treadmill and my love of tennis.

The biggest challenge; keeping myself motivated for the long haul.