Weight Loss & Fitness Update: The Amazing Week 17!

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Yikes. I noticed that it’s been a while since I’ve done the fitness update on this blog. And that it’s been an incredible 17 weeks since I started this. Wow.

The weight loss has continued on its downward trajectory, and I’ve continued to exercise and maintain a healthy diet. Let’s take a look at the weight loss journey as chronicled here on Family Of Five:

• Week 1 – Weighed in at 109.8kg. This was before any exercise or substantial change of diet.
• Week 4 – 103.8kg. Quite an inspiring drop in weight. I think it was these big initial changes in weight that spurred me to keep going.
• Week 6 – 99.4kg. Even after this 10kg drop from my initial weigh-in, I felt like I was on a plateau for weeks afterward. I stayed persistent though, and kept exercising and eating well.
• Week 17 – 87.6kg. Again, I felt like I was stuck around 90-92kg  for the longest while. But in the last week, I’ve seen the weight start to shift again.

What’s my target weight?

This became a big question for me during the main weight loss programme: what exactly is a healthy weight for me to be at?

So I consulted an online BMI calculator: for my height (188cm), the ‘normal’ weight range for me is between 65kg and 88kg. As you can see, I’ve literally just come into my normal weight range for the first time in years! Hooray! Big milestone!

I’ve found knowing my ideal weight range to be really helpful. Of course, I’m currently borderline overweight, so I want a greater margin of safety so that I don’t drift into overweight again too easily. At this point in time, I’d be happy to bring my weight down to around 80kg.

How have I been exercising?

Running has become a big part of my routine now. I’ve gradually increased the distances I’ve been running. On a trip to London over Easter, I ran through the city with my brother in law (ish), Gordon. We managed an 8 mile run on that occassion, but that was overdoing it for me. My calves paid me back with severe cramps for the next few days!

This past week, I’ve been running 5 and 7 mile sessions, culminating on an 11 mile run at the weekend. The Nike+ GPS app for the iPhone is a godsend for me – keeping a record of every run, my pace, distance and everything else. At the time of writing, I’ve recorded a total of 175 miles!

I’ve ditched The Biggest Loser Wii Game. I found after a while, running was more effective, and the Wii game wasn’t challenging enough. However, I kept Jillian Michaels close by – I’m using her 6 Week 6 Pack DVD to work on my core. I actually find that this combination is working very well for me. Days doing a run and a DVD session can help kick start plateauing weight loss!

Diet

Ah, diet! I’ve not been quite as strict on the diet front. You know why? Because I’m generally eating extremely well, I don’t mind the odd deviation here and there.

Don’t get me wrong: take-aways are strictly off limits. I find they’re not as tasty as I remember, and the newfound feeling of guilt and self-loathing after eating one has put me off them altogether. We’ve replaced a lot of the junk and carb-heavy meals with smaller portions and more fresh fruit and vegetables. Salads accompany a lot of our meals now too.

But I won’t say no to the odd chocolate bar every now and again or a slightly less healthy snack. And sometimes we’ll have a ‘blow out’ meal because we’ve heard that keeps your metabolism on its toes!

Biggest surprise: salads with dinner and snacking on fresh fruit is an acquired taste. Stick with it and you’ll be craving a crunchy apple or juicy melon instead of crisps and Coke. Seriously. And I genuinely don’t miss those things – I’ve worked too hard to lose 22kg in 17 weeks, and junk food was part of the problem. That’s enough of a deterrent for now!

Photo credit: Hairy.Jacques on Flickr