Friday 29 January 2010

Weigh In

Weighed in today. I forgot to mention that two weeks ago I discovered that my home scales were 4-5 lb light. I thought at the start of the month I was 16st 5 : but in fact I was 16st 10! So my "plateau" weight was more like 16 1/2 - 17 stone.

I'm now using the gym scales instead and weighing in Friday mornings. They're in kilos but that's OK.

Starting weight : (Jan 4th) 106 kg (234)
Weight today : (Jan 29th) 101 kg (223)

Woohoo! I honestly dont think I could have done any better than that. So I'm very pleased with myself.

Thursday 28 January 2010

A clothes budget?

When I watch videos of people who are 300 lb or more I wonder what I am worrying about. At my worst (last summer) I have only weighed 240 lb - hardly anything by comparison. But I know I have spent most of my adult life unhappy with my weight. It's maybe not been the same physical problem for me but it's still been a huge mental problem.

I think back to my 20s when I was only 25 lb or so "overweight". What was I worrying about then? I wish I could take that person by the scruff of the neck and tell them to get on with their life. Not to keep thinking about how great life would be if "only" I could lose that little bit of extra weight.

One thing I've always found difficult being overweight has been buying clothes. Even at 225 lb it's really tough to find fitting clothes in the shops. I'm in that sort of "no man's land" between the plus sizes and the department store.

My waist at the moment is 45 inches. Usually on a rack of men's trousers that will give me just one or two pairs that I can try on. Most men's trousers go up to 38 inches or 40. The easiest thing I find is to buy the elasticated pairs of 42 inch chinos and wear those. The situation is worse in "trendy" men's shops. There sizes tend to go up to 36 or 38. That usually leaves me heading straight for the exit.

Tough also when you have the dreaded "moobs". Which I have. Even at my current 225 lbs I find I can't wear most T shirts. Department store sizes generally go up to 42 inch chests (XL). With a chest of 46 inches I'm straining the fabric and every T shirt looks wrong. As a result I have to wear either polo shirts or normal shirts. And even then "fashion" shirts look wrong on me.

I've been lucky that I've never had to use plus size shops or wear baggy sportswear. But it's not much comfort. I know that to feel "free" in a clothes shop I actually have to be at or near my goal weight. And I'm fed up with going into the shops and just feeling depressed at the options.

I look forward to that day I can walk into a clothes shop and buy anything in the store. I look forward to actually having a clothes "budget", instead of buying clothes only when and if I have to. And most of all I look forward to actually looking "smart" and well-dressed in casual clothes. It's going to be one helluva high.

Saturday 23 January 2010

Guys blogging about weight loss

In the past I've been against blogging about weight loss. It seemed too personal. After all, the last thing you would want is someone you know in "real life" finding out about it. Or so it seemed. Almost like (I would imagine) being gay and coming out of the closet.

It also seemed - err - well not quite a masculine thing to do. And this feeling was reinforced by the fact I couldnt seem to find any other men who were doing it. I mean, I know that 95% of those losing weight in slimming clubs are women, but -really? - not one other man blogging? When I looked at online discussion forums, it was the same. In the end I gave up and decided to forget about blogging.

This was about a couple of years ago. Fortunately I then discovered some of the weight loss vloggers on YouTube. Particularly those in the Gut2Cut group. I became obsessive for a while about watching some of the guys in the group. It was almost the first time I had listened to any other guy talk about weight loss.

After a while though I got bored. Most of the videos seemed to focus on the details of the weight loss. How many calories they ate, how many times they went to the gym, how much weight they lost. I mean, yes, the numbers are sort of interesting. But what I really wanted to know was - how big a deal is this weight loss for them? And what impact had it had on their life? Particularly with the guys, this was the last thing you got to hear about. Instead, it felt like these people lived entirely in the present. Even after two years of watching Adam (alifelessboring), for instance, I have no idea what made the guy decide to shut himself in an apartment - and scarcely come out of it - for over a year.

So here I am back with the bloggers. And - thank God - there are now loads of guys blogging about weight loss. Many of them - of course - are still skating over their emotional reasons for being fat. But at least they're there. And I'm looking forward to getting to know some of them.

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Starting point

This blog is here to record my weight loss journey. However along the way I expect it will become a bit more than that. After all, I'm not overweight just because I eat too much am I? lol. So I will probably talk about the rest of my life too. We'll see how it goes.

I probably should first talk about fundamentals. I'm a 45 year old man, reasonably active, and currently weigh just over 16st. I'd like to lose 3-3 1/2 stone and get under 13 stone. I'm 6 ft tall so that wouldnt be a bad weight to be.

My current goals (next 3 months) are :

1. To get my weight down from my current "plateau" weight range (16 - 16 1/2 stone) and get down to 15st. I know at that weight I'll definitely be able to see changes in my appearance.

2. To increase my stamina and engage with life more.

3. To go on holiday in April and not look like a fat walrus.

No 2 is probably the most important of these. But it's funny how No 1 - the numbers - seems more important.

(No 3 meanwhile is both the carrot and the stick lol )

Let's see how we go.