I almost hit 14 stone again! Fourteen!
That’s a shocking increase of around 7lbs over two months – effectively
undoing six weeks work. This is obviously disappointing. I have, over
the last month, fought it down to
13st and 10lbs which has cheered me up a bit but it was scarily easy
for me to slip back into gaining wait at quite a drastic pace. So how
did it happen?
I basically stopped running. Again.
No real reason – maybe because it gets dark earlier. This isn’t an
I’m-afraid-of-the-dark thing; running on tarmac is horrible and running
through woods when you can’t see where you’re
going is dangerous. So how am I remedying this? Going to the gym and
using the treadmill. It’s an awful lot more dull but I’d rather go there
and get it done than continue sliding into being a slob. It also gives
me a chance to use other machines – rowers,
cycles, weights – that mean I can balance my exercise regime somewhat.
To put it in perspective this time
last year I was much more regimented in my work out – three times a
week, set times on each machine – even though (maybe because?) I was a
lot less fit. What happened then, that changed
my attitude? Because that’s clearly what has changed – I still need to
lose weight and getting fitter is always good.
Firstly, I had a lot more weight to
lose; it was much more pressing as an issue. Without checking I think I
was about 2-2.5 stone heavier, which is a lot of extra weight. I saw on
a youtube video advertising some sort of
health food/protein shake/miracle thingy (a really credible source in
other words) that the average man is about seventeen pounds overweight.
By that (debatably accurate) standard I am an average man now – back
then I was over twice as much overweight as was
average. What a depressing thought! But it probably drove me a lot
harder than the comfort being within the ‘average weight’ category does.
So I’m assigning myself a new objective off of the back of that: lose
seventeen pounds. This is a very different and
much more focused objective than a general weight-loss goal and I’m
hoping it’ll keep me on track. Coming up to Christmas, I appreciate I’m
in for a tough challenge.
Secondly I was trying to impress
someone – or perhaps wanting to impress them too much is a better way of
putting it. Either way, I have a very different mind-set now; I’m still
trying to impress people (including, importantly,
myself) but in what is, quite frankly, a less desperate manner.
However, I’m also trying to get some writing published, apply for
university next year, hunt down promotion opportunities at work and
maybe fit exercise in the middle of all that and a full time
job. Because I have so much other things going on in my life (which is
good) my self-esteem is higher and as such while I certainly want to
exercise and do so, it is more on an as and when basis rather than an
obsessive one-track-mind kind of way. I think
this actually makes me a much more interesting and attractive person so
I’m not too disappointed.
Thirdly I’m still resting on my
laurels somewhat – I have to thank a lot of people for the compliments
and congratulations they have been giving me. Dys, Steely, and Catherine
are the most recent people to be vocal about
it specifically – albeit Steely did so at urinal in a pub toilet which
was awkward for everyone except him – but all of it is appreciated. I
mention these three specifically because it their comments were made in
such an open or honest way I was actually nearly
speechless with gratitude. I’d like people who know me to notice the
word ‘nearly’; I accept that my mouth runs on emergency arrogance when
my brain doesn’t provide it with something to say. So if you
complimented me or even commented on my weight-loss and
I’ve not said anything or been a bit of a Richard about it then that’s
because I was grateful and appreciative. However, your comments have
made me unfortunately comfortable with my weight and shape, so through
my own error I’ve slacked off.
Remedies for this are basically as
listed above – set a different style of objective. With more focus I
hope to retain it. My next door neighbour is embarking on a 10k run next
year – something I’m not sure I could manage
anymore – so I’m dragging her to the gym twice a week for some
practice, building my stamina back up and hopefully also improving as
well. I will restart my yoga classes and other exercise I do/did so that
I at least have something resembling a regime. The
big lesson? Make time for your weight loss, otherwise all your good
intentions and effort may be wasted.
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