The Biggest Loser Challenge: Hitting a plateau?

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It’s been exactly 20 days since I started my Biggest Loser challenge. Almost three weeks. And there’s quite a bit of change to report.

Diet

First up, I have to a reasonable extent, been looking after what I eat. Smaller portion sizes, more fruit and veg and smaller meals spread out across the day to make sure I don’t get ravenous and go on a fridge raid!

However, there have been a few setbacks – most notably two takeaways in one weekend. We had houseguests and ordered in. And washed the junk food down with quite a lot of beer. Other than that though, my alcohol consumption is virtually nil right now, and I’m trying to keep junk food out of my diet.

Exercise

I’ve also been continuing my daily Biggest Loser Wii game workout. That’s been killer. There have been points – and I hope you’re not eating as you read this – where I was slipping on the sweat-drenched floor as Jillian Michaels barked at me to keep doing the pushups!

I’d started off doing 30 minute sessions every evening, but after a fortnight upped the length to 40 minutes. I know it’s only ten minutes, but it made a real difference. I’m exhausted after each session now. And dripping in sweat. It’s not pretty, but it has to be done.

The biggest benefit is that I can feel muscles taking form. After a largely sedentary lifestyle for years, I’m starting to get the hang of push-ups. And not the bra kind. I can feel biceps taking shape from the boxercise sessions, and the pot belly is slowly giving way to abs. Proper abs! This is the dream folks – for years I’ve been promising to get a six-pack by summer. Whether that’s achievable or not is anyone’s guess, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Oh, yeah – I’m also trying to walk to and from the daily school pickups now. And whenever possible go for a long walk.

Weight Loss

This is the most difficult one – I briefly became obsessed with weighing myself. Until I realised that the fluctuation in weight at different times of the day is crazy. Plus what you’re wearing will always make a difference. Adding clothes jumps up the totals, so it’s best to weigh-in at the same time each day. I usually do it after my Biggest Loser workout, when I’m finished in the shower.

So I started this project at 109.8kg, then went down to 107 in less than a week. On my Sunday Biggest Loser weigh-in, I was 104-point-something. And tonight, I was weighing in at 103.8kg. It does feel like the weight loss is slowing down. I’ve been told to expect this, but I also suspect that the weekend’s junk food and beer may have played a part in this setback. That won’t happen again.

Still, according to the Wii game, the target weight I have to reach is 90kg. That’s still a fair distance away, but I’m looking forward to working the weight down to something more manageable!

I’ll try and report back on Sunday after the weekly weigh-in. My goal is to try and lose around 1kg per week…