Week 5 - Weigh in.

Well, I'm now half way through the initial Lighterlife 8 week stint.

So now it's time to check what I've lost etc.

Week 5 commencing 27/07/08

Weight 71kg (156.6lb or 11.2 stone)
Total loss to date: 12.1kg (26.7lb or 1.12 stone)
BMI: 24.8 now (was 29.1)

Chest: 95cm (-7cm)
Waist: 89cm (-14cm)
Hips 97cm (-7cm)

My fitness level feels better than it's ever been, although I am still aching a bit from Jujutso on Thursday but I'm sure I'll get used to that. Cycling has been getting progressively easier and I've been feeling that my endurance and lung capacity have increased.

I've also got used to not having to drink in order to be able to sleep which must be a good thing, and I've also found that eating through boredom can be overcome by keepng a bottle of water at hand at the times I am most likely to become bored, usually when alone at night.

I must say that eveyone has been encouraging me, especially Andy who has accompanied me on over 250 of miles on the cycle. All friends and family have been positive and say that they can see a difference everytime they see me.

I must admit that I am looking forward to a proper meal when I have finished the abstinance stage, but I see that as a reward for completing the course.

Other good news is that my Police application is proceeding smoothly, two weeks until my medical and I am measured for my stab vest, and the fitness test is booked in for November. I can't wait to get started!

Week 4 - Day 5

Just back from my first Jujutsu lesson. I had a brilliant time rolling, attacking and defending. It made a great change from just cycling and lifting weights.

I wonder if they'd let me try it in my stab vest...?

Week 4 - Day 3

Not much to report really, except that I'm trying to fit in even more excercise to speed things up. Monday I cycled 45 miles and today I went to join a Jujustu class, I'll be starting on Thursday and then going every Tues and Thurs.

May even go swimming once per week too.

Alright, Chunky? It's Week 4 Weigh-in time.

Right then, as we head into week four here's the stats:

Week 4 commencing: 20/7/08
Weight: 73.2kg ( 11 stone 7)
Loss this week: 1.8kg (4lb)
Total loss: 10.1kg (21lb or 1 stone 7)

Must put more excercise in this week to burn more, I want to get the remaining 10kg off in the next three weeks.

Week 3 - Day 6

Well to day saw a trip by bicycle to Newark. A 50 mile round trip.

It was going ever so well until Andy got a puncture and ended up having to push his bike for 8 miles. I rode around in a circle while waiting for him!

Nothing to report diet wise. Don't feel I've lost anything this week, maybe I've hit a plateau but I'll get some advise at weigh-in tomorrow.

Other news - my psycho ex got in touch today and asked where I was goig to be tonight. I don't want to get involved but maybe I'll motorboat her if I get the chance ;)

Week 3 - Day 4.

Just ran level 8.3 on the bleep test, I managed to go further than Leanne who is in great shape and normally does about 8.6, she must be having an off day.

Have been told I look thinner around the face so that's a good sign. Hoping to be back out on the bike tomorrow and still need to get some more weight training done.

I'm glad LL is working and I'm going to recommend it to friends. I may also recommend it to my ex who I briefly encountered yesterday - my God, she's piled it on! She was 14 stone last time I saw her and now she looks even bigger. I'd been hoping that I wouldn't bump into her until after I'd finished the 8 weeks so she'd see me at my slimmest, but as I've seen the state she's in now I feel even better that I'm losing weight :)

I'm actually wondering if she'll get in touch, if she does, I'll probably just convince her to go to bed and then slap her arse and ride the waves. Yes, I'm cruel, but even her own family think she deserves it....

OK, I'll behave now. Promise!

Hola Chicas & nobbers.

This weeks stats:

Week 3: 12/7/08.

Weight: 75kg (165.4lbs or 11.8 stone).
Loss this week: 2.9kg (6.4lb or .5 stone).
Total loss: 8.1kg (17.9lbs or 1.3 stone).

Not sure how much fun I can inject into this blog, as it's probably the most boring subject ever but I shall persist....

Looking back on the amusing things that have occurred since starting LL...

• Walked into a gay bar with Mark & Andy. Didn't realise until about 15 minutes later when I wondered why it was covered in memorabillia from musicals and posters for Nottingham Pride. It was at that point that I looked around and noticed that there were only about 3 women in the place...
• Got a sore arse. Nothing to do with the above, but caused by riding a 15 year old bicycle.
• Finding out that 20 minutes of sex (on top) burns 120 k/cals in twenty minutes! If only I could find a willing volunteer. Ladies?
• Got drowned while 17 miles away from home while cycling. If only I had taken a jacket!
• Almost been wiped out by a bus which just pulled out as I was cycling by.
• Waking up dreaming that I was at an all-you-can-eat-buffet restaurant.

In the words of Bugs Bunny, That's all folks!

Week 2 - Day 5.

Again, nothing exciting to report.

Achieved another 25 miles on the bike today, although I felt slightly sick afterwards, but I'm putting that down to not having any sachets before setting out and slight dehaydration.

Feel better now I've had a couple of sachets and some water.

I've been to the Doc's to get the rest of my Police medical filled in. I managed to answer no to all 42 questions and I've only had 5 days off sick in three years which I don't think they can complain about.

Time to get some soup down my neck and some more water.

Week 2 - Day 4.

Just back from cycling 34 miles around Notts. I feel great to be honest. Each trip seems to be getting easier, although we did some rather long hill-climbs.

The weather is due to improve tomorrow, so it looks like we'll carry on past Southwell to Newark which should give us another good run.

Still no hunger pangs and no temptation to consume food or alcohol or any other banned products. I'm not expecting miracles at the weigh-in on Saturday, but I'd be delighted if I had lost over a stone since beggining LL.

Week 2 - Day 3.

Another uneventful day. I don't feel as if I've lost any more weight so I'm going to put some more excercise in. As I've mentioned previously, I'm only going to check my weight at the Saturday weigh-ins so hopefully by then, the weight will have decreased further.

Hopefully my cycling partner has overcome his sprained ankle so we can back out on he road again. It's just going to be another session of pounding the cross trainer for me today.

On the positive side, I've just spoken to my optician who has signed off my eye-sight form for my police application and I'm well within the requirements so that has lifted my spirits.

Week 2 - Day 2.

Nothing exciting to report.

Hunger has practically vanished, and I've only had 3 packets today (2 shakes, 1 soup). I'm considering just dropping onto shakes for convinience.

Excercise has been a paltry 5 miles on the bike today, hopefully I'll squeeze more in tomorrow.

Apart from that I've been busy completing my police medical and eye-sight forms prior to Final Interview Board and fitness test.

Week 2 - Weigh in.

Just back from my weigh in. Very pleased with progress!

I cannot believe how effective Lighterlife has been. Since starting on Sunday, I have lost 5kg (11lbs).

Week 2 - Date 5/7/8
Weight: 77.9kg (171.8lbs)
Total loss: 5kg (11lbs)

There was nothing to report yesterday, I just got on with things, including another 20 mile ride, but this time on a new bike. Monday will see a longer trip from Mapperley to Southwell. Hopefully that will keep the momentum up.

Week 1 - Day 5.

Nothing much to report today.

I've bench-pressed a few weights, around 36kg, and done a few curls with 20kg of weight, but laid of the cardio.

Water intake down to 4 litres excluding what is mixed with the packets. I didn't actually feel particularly hungry or thirsty today, though.

Good news, I've had my results from assessment centre. I've passed! That is a weight off my mind - now to get it off my stomach! :D

Final Interview Board and Fitness Test coming up soon. I can't believe that the police application process has nearly been completed. Fingers crossed for those!

Week 1 - Day 4.

Today I had my Week One pop-in session.

This was to see if I had gone into fat burning (ketosis). This was checked by urinating on a stick that would change colour showing it there were any ketones contained within.

I went to the darkest level on the scale so that shows there is now no glucose in my body left to burn and now my body is using it's fat stores as fuel. Good stuff.

I wasn't planning on weighing myself until the saturday morning coaching session, but Ruth checked it - 8lbs down. She advised me to expect probably only another couple before saturday's weigh-in. Well, 8lbs is better than nothing so I'm pleased.

I've got a new hybrid cycle on the way, so hopefully I'll be able to get another trip in before weigh-in.

Week 1 - Day 3.

It had to happen! I knew at some point I would get a craving for real food! It's been a gorgeous day here in Nottingham and so, of course, the BBQs have been brought out. I'm sitting here typing this with the smell of food cooking on coals drifting into my lounge. I've resisted tempatation and I'll soon have my final packet for the day.

Other news for the day - I'm on the lookout for a new bike. I'm thinking of a hybrid as earlier today I went on a 20 mile trip on a 15 year old mountain bike which only allowed me to select only a few gears. My mate was leaving me for dust, and he weighs about the same as I do and he takes less excercise!

I've also caught up with a friend, Leanne, who is in the Police service. I ran the 15m bleep test with her and I achieved the national pass rate. I was surprised as I thought all of my riding would have worn me out. I am aching slightly but I do feel good.

Week 1 - Day 2.

I had an icredibly lazy start to the day due to deciding there was something on the television that I wanted to watch at 03:00.

Breakfast was the strawberry shake which is the nicest I've tasted so far.

I made it to the gym and immediately disregarded the suggestion that, for the first couple of days on Lighterlife, I should take it easily.

I immediately went for a 3km run on the treadmill burning 300 calories.

I then decided to burn another 250 calories off through rowing.

As the total calorie intake on Lighterlife is 500 per day, that puts me on a -50 calories just for that little bit of excercise.

I thought I'd test my resolve and went to meet my brother and a friend in the local pub. I managed to avoid alcohol and only drank 5 pints of water. I could smell the lager that was being drank and the food that other people were ordering. I stuck to my guns and settled on water.

I've tried my friends suggestion of having he chocolate shake as a hot drink. My tip is to blend it as you would the other shakes and then microwave it to heat as that avoids getting lumps.

The vegetable soup is ok, I just added pepper to taste and slightly too much tobasco, but it was still edible.

Later I will try the Chicken soup, probably only with pepper to start, and then maybe only a small splash of tobasco if neeeded.

Water intake has so far passed 3.5 litres and there will be more with the soup and throughout the rest of the evening.

So far, I have no side effects to report, although I suspect I may ache a little tomorrow after the gym excersion. However, that won't stop me, I'm planning on going on a bike ride tomorrow.

Day 1 - Thoughts

As Day 1 comes to an end, I thought I'd share some thoughts.

I have not suffered any temptation to eat normal food or drink any of the forbidden liquids.

I've had two soups and two shakes today. I decided to try the ones I didn't think I'd enjoy that much.

The mushroom soup is ok, but I do suggest that it should be flavoured with your choice of Tobasco or pepper.

The Thai Chilli soup was better than I expected it to be, but again, I added loads of Tobasco sauce and a hint of pepper.

I tried both the Vanilla and Caramel shakes. The Vanilla was a bit plain, so I mixed in a spoonful of instant coffee to give it some more flavour. The caramel shake isn't as bland, but again, I decided to mix in some coffee. The booklet that I was given suggest mixing the vanilla and chocolate shakes, so I may give that a go over the next couple of days to see what I think of that.

Water intake has been higher than I expected it to be. Part of it due to me trying to wash away the hangover I woke with this morning and secondly, I've found that the water kills of the thought of wanting to eat when bored. So far I've drank over 6 litres.

The only side-effects I've felt today is the increase in the amount of trips I need to make to the bathroom in order to empty my bladder, but I'm sure I can cope with that!

Day 1 - Just starting out.

Well, here goes nothing.

I've just been to collect my foodpacks, posed for two photos, and had my hip, waist and chest measurements taken.

I'm currently clocking in at:

Week 1 Day 1. 29/6/08
Weight: 82.7 kg
BMI 28.9
Chest: 102 cm
Waist: 103 cm
Hips: 104 cm

What's in the pack?
As it's my first week, I've got a selection of different packs to try, and Ruth, the counsellor has told me that if there are any flavours I don't like, I can swap them for flavours that I do.

So what flavours have I got?
Shakes:
Strawberry x 2
Caramel x 3
Vanilla x 3
Chocolate x 3
Banana x 2
Raspberry x 3

Soups:
Thai Chilli x 3
Vegetable x 3
Chicken x 3
Mushroom x 3

Also included with the foodpacks was a log book and a guide for the first week.

I have a pop-in arranged or Wednesday when the counsellor, Ruth, will check to see if I have gone into Ketosis (fat burn), and then I get to visit again on Saturday morning at 09:45 for the first weekly counselling session.

Right, well here goes...

Here goes nothing.

My story & background info.

I mainly intend to use this blog as a tool to record my progress over the initial 8 weeks of using the Lighterlife weight loss and maintenance programme.

I have chosen to follow this after reading about the results of Snazy on his own blog and his updates on Scoobynet.

My target is to drop 20kg to reach 63.1kg which will leave me with a healthy BMI score.

So far I have found a Lighterlife councillor in my city, watched a DVD which provides more information, and asked a few questions. I have also been to my doctor to complete a medical questionnaire to make sure I'm healthy enough to commence. That was pretty easy as the answers to everything was No. My pulse and blood pressure were both measured too. Now I just need to wait for my commencement date.

Why am I doing this? I've decided to apply for a job, which has a fitness test as part of the application progress. The medical involved also calls for a BMI score below 30, of which I currently am on 29.1. Additionally, I want to lose some weight as a confidence booster.

I'll update this blog to reflect how my progress is going, how I'm feeling, any difficulties or struggles etc. I'm sure eight weeks of abstinence from food and alcohol, will give me plenty to record, especially the abstinence from booze! I've already wondered if I need to lock myself in the house to avoid temptation of a sneaky pint, or if I'll be able to still go out with my mates on our regular nights out and stick to water?

What is Lighterlife?
LighterLife is a fast, safe and effective way to lose weight. It is a unique weight-loss and weight-management programme designed specifically for people who have three stone or more to lose.

More info here: http://www.lighterlife.com/