It makes for disturbing reading.

Well, the scales arrived. I'm not totally sure about their accuracy, but I say that because I live in an incredibly old building and there are simply no flat surfaces. Tomorrow I will try them on the ground floor and see if there is any difference.

So, the scales purport to assess weight, body fat, total water/hydration, muscle mass, and bone density/volume or something.

I set them up as per the instructions; interestingly, there are two types of body profile you can choose: normal person, male or female, or athlete, male or female. An athlete is defined as someone doing 11 or more hours of intense physical activity a week. I'm probably only doing about five at the moment, unless you count dog walking, which it probably doesn't. We do walk quite fast though, and there are lots of hills...

I think I am somewhere between the two, so I set up a profile for each type, and the measurements are quite different.

Shit, too.

Anyway, I digress. This was always intended as a balls-out post, let it all hang out and hide nothing. So here we go.

First setting, as normal person:
Weight: 16st 4.8lbs (229, US Fat Fans)
Body fat: 33.3% (as perfect a third as you'll find. Who knew? This, of course, makes me obese)
TBW (water): 37.8 (this is actually 10 points below where it should be apparently, but as I have spent the first half of 2013 drunk, I think this is understandable)
Muscle: 38.7% (yay! This one is ok!)
Bone: 5.2lbs (this sounds incredibly low to me - and according to their ranges, it is, as for my weight it should be more like 7.5lbs)

Then again, as an athlete:
Weight: Same
Fat: 28.8% (4.5% better!)
Water: 42.5 (a lot better but still low)
Muscle: 42.1 (six percent below what is 'unacceptable')
Bone: 6.2lb (much better - still low though)

In a nutshell, I am fucking fat, and fucking muscular. Now to work on that fat part; gym sign up is at the weekend, probably Sunday, and Saturday I have a run planned for 60-80 minutes, I'll see how I go. Then next week, we swim, and run.

I have also just been shopping, largely with breakfast in mind. I bought a few tins of fish, and some smoked mackerel, plus some carrots, oranges, and eggs. I've found that on days when I get my breakfast right, everything else falls into place. My ideal breakfast is quite protein heavy, with a mackerel fillet or two, a couple of hard boiled eggs, and an orange. That really keeps me full and it's all stuff I like eating, and takes no preparation, as long as the eggs are cooked in advance. Having carrots around makes snacking easy too; I have bought some dark chocolate from Aldi, but it's the stuff where it's in five smaller bars, and they're very slim and small. Works for me.

So, that's the plan. Your thoughts?

No change

There's still no particular change - that is, I'm not weighing myself and my clothes are still roomy.  However, I realise I'm becoming a bit casual and it would be easy to get into the habit of 'just one won't matter' whether it's chocolate biscuits or whatever, and sooner or later it will matter.  So I'm making every effort not to get into bad habits and am mostly successful.

As for exercise, I'm afraid I've got way out of cycling.  There always seems to be an excuse - and I never did start to enjoy it, even when I resolutely cycled most days.  I've been walking a lot recently though - we've been looking after friends' dog for ten days and it's meant a lot of extra exercise, some of it even for me.

Badgerdaddy and I haven't seen each other for a while, living at opposite sides of the country nowadays, but are planning to put that right before long.  Woo and hoo!

An experiment...

I just ordered some fancy-schmancy bathroom scales that measure bone density, weight, fat content and hydration - allegedly. They will be here end of the week-ish.

I'm about to sign up for a very, very tough off-road marathon - so I plan to map physical changes here, according to what the scales say. Could be fun, could be heartbreakingly awful. Soon find out.

I'll be doing 4-5 runs a week with perhaps four swimming sessions and occasional gym workouts (which will be mostly core focused, or occasionally hamstring), all being well, for the next 15 weeks.

Like I said, it could be fun.

You'll never guess what!

I put all the weight back on. Every pound.

It's mostly through drinking, self-medicating since my separation. I also had a strange injury, which meant I cut back on the amount of walking I was doing and right back on the running. It's amazing how quickly you can add weight when you consume over 1,000 extra calories most days, and don't walk three hours in the woods with the dog, then go for a 70-minute run in the evening. It can really build up...

Injury seems to be sorted, running is going well so far this week, and life is settling down a little bit too. So it's all coming off, with lifestyle changes to keep it off this time.

Dagnabbit.

Z wakes up

It's been a while, sorry if you've been dropping in hopefully.

I did go and buy those new bras, finding that I had dropped a size - 32 instead of 34, that is.

The reason I don't write here often is that there doesn't seem anything to update on a diet blog when one isn't actually dieting. I seem to have settled at my present size for now, though I'm only too aware how easy it is to let a pound or two creep on without taking much notice. I've been working rather harder than I'd wish of late, and the occasional chocolate biscuit has been eaten. Still, no weight gain; or at least, I'm no bigger.

In fact, lying in bed a few minutes ago (that is, I'm still lying in bed), I ran my hand down my side to rub a tickle and realised I could feel all my ribs. I knew that, but I'd forgotten. I'm not used to being the size I want to be. It's nice.



Sent from Z's iPhone

pick-me-up

I measured myself today.  34/27/36.  Yes, I know, I was in better proportion before.  How does one whittle down a middle-aged waist?  And I've been putting it off, I must get measured for new bras - they still seem to fit, on the tightest hooks rather than the loosest, but I must be a lot smaller now.

I don't think one should underestimate the importance of nice underwear.  It doesn't matter if no one but yourself sees or notices it (the Sage is not an underwear man), it makes one feel good - and a well-fitting bra does more to make your clothes hang well than anything else.  A while ago, I read someone's blog where she was grumbling about the cost of bras, but she refused to pay more than a fiver and, from what she said, she was quite a big woman - you only have to look at their construction, there's a lot of work in it and, if looked after, one lasts a pretty long time.  I usually buy two or three a year, but that doesn't mean I throw the old ones out because they're normally still perfect for another year.

I've had a chest infection and still can't eat much and I haven't been drinking for nearly a fortnight.  That is, I had half a pint of cider when we went out last night, but I couldn't finish it and only had it to be polite.  We're expecting guests this evening and I'll serve champagne when they arrive.  Champagne puts a spring in everyone's step, doesn't it?

Another year begins

I rarely write here, I'm afraid because, when I do say anything about weight loss, what I eat and so on, it tends to go on my other blog.  I didn't want that to turn into any sort of themed blog, but it felt quite all right as part of general writing about my life.

However, new year and all that, it's time for an update here.  Which is that I've succeeded in losing the two stone I set out to lose, all of five years ago, though I've fluctuated a bit on the way.  A stone and a half went in a year and the rest went very slowly.  I lost and gained a few pounds, but overall I kept inching down.  Actually, this time last year I bought a size 12 skirt again - it was a straight, fitting style and it went against the grain to go back up a size, but I liked it and it was in the sale ... anyway, it wasn't too good a buy because it's now too big.

And how much too big can be demonstrated by this photo, of the skirt I'm wearing today.

As you see, a size 10 is roomy.  In fact, when buying this, I rejected a couple of others because they were too large.  Of course, makes vary and so do styles, but I can't be less than satisfied with progress.

On the other hand, I still weigh a good half stone more than the weight I used to be comfortable at: 8 stone 4 pounds.  I ate a lot over Christmas and haven't gained anything, but I need to cut down now or I soon will.  I don't think my previous weight is necessarily anything to aim at now - what was good 20 years ago might not give me the resilience to illness I have now - I seem to have a pretty good immune system.  Also, losing weight makes wrinkles show more.  Also, I dread osteoporosis and want to make sure I have a good diet with plenty of calcium, and that means cheese.  I don't take milk in drinks, though I use it in cooking, and I love cheese.  Life isn't worth living without it, frankly.

I will write another post or two here because I do seem to be finding a lifestyle that suits me, that I can maintain (with some care) a healthy weight and still eat what I want, pretty well.  Though it'll take a few years before I know if it's sustainable.  However, that I've managed to do what I set out to and have done it steadily, that I've lost the last few pounds that stuck there stubbornly for so long and that I've lost those that I put on in the interim has to be counted a success.  Not quite xylophone ribs, but at least they are visible.