Monday 27th January 2014

Well I was gutted this morning. The scales only showed 0.9 kg drop in a week with all my other readings dramatically slowing down. Partly my disappointment is down to expectations as my weight loss has been so dramatic since the start. I guess my body is getting used to being deprived of fat & sugars so it is resisting slightly. Also last week I hurt my back slightly and could not do my run for three nights and I had to miss my lunch twice which does not work as one would expect - you need to feed in the proteins. However, as my wife said to me if I lose 1 kg per week this would equate to 3.5 stone still lost by the time we go to Tunisia on our summer holiday.

Anyway here are the readings:

• Weight - 129.3 Kg - down 0.9 Kg in third week
• BMI - 41.8 - down 0.2 in third week (End target - 25)
• Body fat % - 60.7 - down 0.1 in second week (End target - 25)
• Body water % - 28 - up 0.1 in second week (End target - 55)

The good news is that there is still drops happening from all my measurements and I hope, as my sister-in-law says, that maybe the fat is being converted to muscle although I would expect to see this reflected in my BMI measurement.

I also think this shows the absolute importance of exercise coupled with a diet. By missing my run for 3 nights I am sure impacted on my rates.

Anyway, enough about statistics & readings - this weekend I stayed in Germany so had plenty of time for activities. Went to the swimming pool on Saturday and decided to join in with the pool fitness class even though I was about 20 years younger than any other participant. The lesson ended up with having to hold the hand of a partner and doing a waltz in the water. She was talking to me a lot in German and I had to tell her that I did not speak very much. I feigned it well as I am sure she was asking me out for a drink LOL.

Also discovered that there is a golf driving range only 300M from my apartment - I have not really played a lot of golf in the last 7 years as even the driving range in Belgium cost a fortune. Have to admit that I was very pleased with the way that I hit the balls and for my first 47 out of 50 had about a 98% success rate. Then the golf pro came and stood in the bay next to me and my last three shots were abysmal - pressure.

I have to admit that my hernia even causes the adults to stare at it when I went into the pool/spa/sauna at the weekend - the problem is that now I am starting to lose some weight from my stomach it is becoming even more pronounced! 

I guess they have all watched Alien with Sigourney Weaver (no, not that part) and think that there is an alien in my stomach trying to get out.

Anyway this is number one on my priorities to get fixed.

Whilst it is obviously sad to be apart from the family during the week it means that my wife does not have to suffer with all the fish I eat as she hates it. Mackerel, crab & prawns on Sunday! 

Also be glad to get my new exercise bike as it was very cold & unpleasant running last night & I did not see one other person which is not normal. 

Anyway onwards & upwards - have a great week

Wednesday 22nd January 2014

Well hello peeps. Sorry I have been away for a while but travelling & technology failures have thwarted me! Well firstly to the results of week 2.

Weight - 130.2 Kg - down 3.5 Kg in second week
BMI - 42.0 - down 1.2 in second week (End target - 25)
Body fat % - 60.8 - down 2.9 in second week (End target - 25)
Body water % - 28 - up 2.1 in second week (End target - 55)

And the graph with all measurements

Milestone of the week - weight dropped into the 20 stone readings (20 Stone 7 lb)

Target milestones for the coming week (hopefully)

Weight out of the 130's in Kg
Body Fat % into the 50's

The great news is that I am still feeling extremely motivated and comments from friends & colleagues spur me on. I know that the rate will decrease but providing I continue to lose I will be happy.

The 4 Km walk is definitely becoming easier & quicker. Will need to either increase the distance or speed to continue the same benefit. Very excited as well as to alternate exercises and protect myself against extreme weather my Mother has ordered an early birthday present for me and I am getting an exercise bike. Absolutely brilliant value at Amazon with a 71% discount!

The biggest challenge will be carrying it from my car to my apartment as it weights 40 Kg!

Sticking to the food on the diet plan is getting easier all the time and I am not missing any of the banned products. Managed to enjoy a family roast but was not tempted by the potatoes or sausages which was great. I did have a minor digression and had a couple of glasses of wine but this is tolerated as a minor deviation on the plan and providing it is only every two weeks it will be fine. The important thing is that the diet needs to be long term & sustainable and that means that I am not going to be a Nun and have nothing to drink but be very sensible (mind you I did just read about the Nun giving birth so not sure if the analogy is quite right!)

Long car journeys are also quite challenging & I must remember to take allowed snacks with me or else I will end up stopping at a service station & getting something naughty.

Planking is now up to 40 seconds and running up the 20 steps at work are relatively straight forward. Just to add to my picture from last week this is what I am no longer carrying so it should be easier.

Due to my company restricting the use of a lot of external websites it will become more difficult to publish things so bear with me as it is unlikely to be a daily blog at the moment - happy dieting campers!

Been so busy at work today that had no time to really think about much. A lot of congratulations for the 10lb that I lost last week. I had a personal message on my kitchen table this morning. It read "Dear, David, thank you for giving me less work. Love, your heart". We may be a bit glib about 10lb but this is what I not carrying anymore after 1 week.

Think about carrying this around 24x7 - it is a lot of effort.

Slight disappointment that my weight was static this morning but this is all due to expectations. On many other diets, my weight has stayed the same or even increased. If I carry on with my routine - diet & exercise I am absolutely convinced that all my targets will be reached.

I mentioned reaching my first milestone yesterday. I think you need to have a large number of milestones on a long "project" like this so you can celebrate successes on route - although not with champagne. This is no different when I am managing a large programme at work; you need to have milestones to check your progress.

There are 3 things that I have realised today.

1. I am not alcohol dependent! 
2. My body responds well to a proper diet
3. Fad diets will not work in the long term

Whilst out running tonight I started to see snow flakes in my running headlight. Luckily it did not develop & even more so it has been a very mild winter so far so outside exercise has not been thwarted.

I mentioned medical conditions and this is one that I really hope I can get sorted out. I have got an umbilical hernia (A hernia occurs when an internal part of the body pushes through a weakness in the muscle or surrounding tissue wall) and it sticks out like a nose from my tummy button. When I was on holiday in Spain the children stared at it as they walked passed me so we have a bit of fun and added eyes and a mouth to it which got even more stares LOL. Losing weight will not repair it but it will make it safer for me to have a general anesthetic to get it repaired.

Now planning for my trip back to the UK tomorrow night & the 4 meals I will need to prepare at breakfast to cover the 36 hours ahead. Looking forward to seeing all the family but will need to be really strong-willed to not be tempted by anything at home.

Week 2 - Tuesday 14th January 2014

It is a very quiet day for diet news today so maybe like some tabloid newspapers I may have to make some up :-)

I achieved my first weight-loss milestone this morning which was great but will not be revealed until the weekly weigh-in.

I may have mentioned before that we need to eat 2 tablespoons of oat bran per day to help digestion. I tried a new recipe this morning and it ended up looking like a severe accident - did not taste too bad though. I am eating so many oats that I think I may start growing a mane and a tail - neigh.

Now starting to run up the 20 stairs between the 3rd & 4th floor in the office. Unfortunately the positive health effect of this is negated by the fact that I am actually going out onto the balcony for a cigarette - my next challenge.

I must remember not to bring in hard-boiled eggs for lunch. My colleagues have politely not said anything but all the windows are now open!

I was walking down the High Street a couple of weeks ago and a "Chav" came up to me and said "you're fat"! I immediately replied to him, "you're ugly but I am losing weight, you can't change your looks" (OK, I admit, freedom of the press).

As I was reaching my 2 Km marker on my run where I turn around I saw some lights jogging towards me. I did not want to immediately be overtaken so I carried on until they passed me. I noticiced it was a couple jogging whilst pushing a pushchair - I wasn't able to catch them up although I ended up adding another 400 metres in distance.

I had a baked aubergine for dinner. Basically take a large aubergine (eggplant) insert some deep slices and stuff some garlic cloves and bake on a high heat. Very filling and extremely healthy and lots of benefits, I have reproduced an article from BBC good food below.

Nutritional highlights

A 100g serving of raw aubergine provides:

25kcal	1g protein	0.2g fat	6g carbohydrate	3.4g fibre

Research

Aubergines are an excellent source of dietary fibre. They are also a good source of vitamins B1 and B6 and potassium. In addition it is high in the minerals copper, magnesium and manganese.

Aubergines are rich in antioxidants, specifically nasunin found in aubergine skin - which gives it its purple colour. A potent antioxidant and free radical scavenger, nasunin has been found to protect the lipids (fats) in brain cell membranes. Cell membranes are almost entirely composed of lipids and are responsible for protecting the cell and helping it to function. The lipid layer is crucial for letting nutrients in, wastes out and receiving instructions from messenger molecules that tell the cell what to do.

 Research on aubergines has focused on nasunin.  It is not only a potent antioxidant, protecting the fatty acids essential for healthy brain function, but it also helps move excess iron out of the body. Althoughiron is an essential nutrient, necessary for transporting oxygen in the blood, immune support and collagen synthesis, too much iron is not recommended.

Aubergines are high in fibre and low in fat and therefore recommended for those managing type 2 diabetes or managing weight concerns. Initial studies indicate that phenolic-enriched extracts of eggplant may help in controlling glucose absorption, beneficial for managing type 2 diabetes and reducing associated high blood pressure (hypertension).

Aubergines may also help to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. These positive effects are likely to be down to nasunin and other phytochemicals in aubergines. (Source: BBC Good food)

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The only other time I have really eaten aubergine before is deep fried and added in a moussaka - not so good!

Up to 30 seconds of planking now so body strength is increasing.

Adios, amigos

Week 2 - Monday 13th January 2014

Monday 13th January 2014

Well the day has arrived and my first official weigh-in...and here is the result

That is a weight loss of 4.9 Kg or 10 Lb in week 1. Of course a lot of this will be water content but the real indicators are the other readings from the scales..BMI, Body Fat %, Body Water %.

BMI - down 2%
Fat - down 3.6%
Water - up 7.5%

A long way to go before targets reached but it is a motivating start. The other area that I am monitoring are a number of body measurements as it is amazing from where weight is lost. Quick snapshot.

You may note that I have not included one appendage in the measurements as I really hope that this does not get smaller LOL

It really is the small things that make a difference. On Saturday I visited a shopping arcade and the shop I needed was on the first floor. Rather than taking the elevator I took the stairs and this was almost without thinking.

First day of pure protein & veg today so I have got a small salad (no dressing) to go with my protein at lunch and then I will have some broccoli with my chicken tonight.

Need to be really forward thinking this week. On Thursday I will drive to Calais from Bonn after work, stay in a hotel & then drive to Worcester early on Friday morning. This means that I will need to take lunch, dinner & breakfast with me. If you do not plan then you can easily be led into temptation by arriving at a hotel having had nothing to eat and not being able to find any suitable food. This links to the 7 P's P**s poor planning prevents p**s poor performance - performance being continued weight loss.

Major accident on the way home from work tonight so I did not get back until 8.45pm. I needed to have my dinner and it would have just been too late if I had gone out for my 'run' so I had to skip it this evening but I did feel guilty.

Confidence Tip: One gets accustomed to being considered a 'fat slob'! Not only do you need to manage your eating, drinking & exercise routines but I think you need to change your mindset. Last weekend I shaved on Saturday and Sunday which is very unusual. I walk around the office with my blazer on (which I can do up now), stand upright & have purposeful strides. Just these things alone bring me confidence and I am starting to think, I look good - even though there is a long way to go. People will notice it as well.

Days 6 and 7

The weekend 11th & 12th January 2014

Following my extended exercise yesterday evening I slept for an undisturbed 10 hours, cannot remember the last time this happened. As decided earlier this week I am going swimming this morning. Imagine my shock when I went from the changing rooms to poolside & was suddenly confronted by 30 German ladies doing pool fitness! No other man in sight!!! I guess they realized that I felt embarrassed as there were a few smiles, maybe even a few in sympathy. Perhaps the sight of me in my gear was a shock for them - LOL

I have not really done swimming as an exercise for many years but the benefits of swimming are well known and the water buoyancy is great support for your muscles & bones.

Sorted out my wardrobe...how many odd pairs of socks can one have? I can understand it when there are many people sharing the same washing cycles but I am on my own here in Bonn so I suspect it is Dobby, the Harry Potter elf, who is sneaking in & hiding them. Why am I writing about socks? Well even household chores consume energy and therefore rather than sitting down & watching the football, I am sorting out clothes whilst listening to the football on the radio.

I am considering Saturday evening as my treat meal night and I am having surf & turf...a nice steak with a salmon fillet.

I have to note that the Dukan diet is not cheap if you use the big supermarkets but the discount supermarkets offer you the opportunity to get most items at very good value. As long as you do not mind long queues, no customer service and haphazard displays!

First real signs of weight-loss showing. I can do my blazer up again, my watch is not pinching me and an extra hole in my belt required. Also my stomach is feeling tighter due to the abdominal exercises. This is so motivating.

Leg muscles feeling quite stiff on Saturday evening so restricted my walk to only 2km tonight - no point over doing things in week 1. Some people ask me what should a walk for exercise mean? Well, any walking is exercise but I try & do it a bit more than taking the poodle in the park on a Sunday afternoon . Normally when I have completed my 4km I have a light sweat sheen on my forehead and I can feel my muscles over the last 500M. Certainly at my current weight I would not be inclined to increase the speed to a light jog as I do not want to have a heart attack in the German countryside!

Sunday morning I went back to the swimming pool again. Luckily I was not confronted by 30 German ladies doing pool-fitness again. After the proper swim I had a bit of luxury and had a spa followed by a sauna to relax my weary muscles.

I have a number of medical conditions that are heavily influenced by being overweight. The first is Sleep Apnoea - basically it is a condition where you stop breathing many times overnight and wake up in the morning feeling as tired as when you went to bed. It is also extremely dangerous when you are driving as you just drift off to sleep. I have mine controlled by wearing a mask at night using a constant air pressure machine. The condition is  prevalent in overweight middle aged men - hey that is me! I really hope that this disappears when I weigh less.

This is a picture that one of my kind colleagues took of me before I was diagnosed with sleep apnoea and thus before I started wearing a mask!

I have been asked to write a guest blog for a friend of mine who has over 60,000 followers on the motivation behind my diet. I will share the link when it has been published.

Just done an hour's ironing - another 60 calories consumed.

I think it is important to 'treat' yourself as you start to progress and lose weight. Whilst the spa and the sauna were included in the entry price of the pool, it did seem like a luxury. Also tomorrow I will wear a shirt to work that I have only worn once because I grew out of it. And thinking about the long term target I will need a new wardrobe, but this time I will be able to shop at High Street shops rather than "Shop for the larger gentleman"!

It is amazing what an appetizing meal you can create using only protein and no-fat dairy products; this is my Sunday evening meal. Curried chicken and prawns with noodles (Konjac Shirataki)

Tomorrow the big weigh-in and measurements will be revealed

Slimming Tip: Green tea is a very good dietary aid and it also helps digestion. I don't like the drink very much personally but try to have a cup a day.

Day 5

Friday 10th January 2014

Slight disappointment on the scales this morning as there was a slight rise, not through eating/drinking anything wrong but maybe (hoping) a slight metabolic blip! To be honest one should not step on the scales everyday as you are more likely to have a pleasant surprise through a weekly weigh-in but in week 1 it is quite exciting.

Was quite excited to find that this blog had been cross-referenced in the Customer Service People weekly newsletter; my job is heavily (LOL) involved in Customer Service technology solutions.

I had the first observation that I had lost some weight, from my HR Director no less!

The sponsorship keeps on coming in and I have now raised nearly three times my initial target through online donations & offline pledges Sponsorship Link - thank you so much everybody.

This is quite a nice little device that we were given at work but I am sure can be purchased relatively cheaply. It is a pedometer basically which shows step count, miles walked & calories consumed based on your initial input information. It is amazing how the distance builds up over the day, especially if you use the stairs and how many calories you can lose through natural exercise.

Rather than writing each day my diet from now on as it will be quite repetitive I will make core observations. All the allowed foods on the Dukan Diet can be found on their website Dukan Diet
They say that eating fish is meant to 'improve intelligence' so I reckon that by the end of this diet, Einstein's IQ will be way below mine LOL.

The first evening of the weekend 'home-alone' and still feeling very motivated. Positive encouragement from my wife and brothers gives me moral support.

1 1/2 hours of exercise this evening including 15 seconds of planking - I think I will rename it to 'sheer hell' though.

Food Tip - this is far easier if you live alone or do not have to feed children but I have removed all bad (not-allowed) items from the house now. Not that I have yet been tempted but just in case!

As internet access is more limited at the weekend I will share my weekend blog on Monday so to all my readers, have a great weekend, and if you are trying to do the same as me....stay motivated & 'Bon chance' as they say in France.

Day 4

Thursday 9th January 2014

My body is definitely adapting to the increased exercise. No sign of aching in my leg muscles after my walk last night; must have had a bit more of a disturbed last night though as I did not feel fully refreshed but this is natural as your body undergoes a major change.

Without going into Too Much Information the bathroom visits for 'number two's' are interesting. Now it is a short trip with no odours whereas previously my family had to wear a surgical mask and carry a can of air freshener if they made a visit after me - they will be very happy when I come home next weekend LOL

My delivery of specialist diet products arrived last night. Whilst most of the things that you eat are available from the large supermarkets there are a couple of products that are harder to source so I got these from the Dukan Shop One of the core basics in the first two phases of the Dukan diet is that you do not eat carbohydrates or sugar. On your pure protein days this is quite a challenge as meat and fish on it's own does not seem to be a meal even though you are definitely full. One product that I have bought is called Konjac Shirataki. They are basically Japanese noodles with no/low carbohydrate or calories and are made from the Konjac plant which is similar to Yam; they can be used as a substitute for pasta. There are also a number of side benefits as well including potentially reducing the chance of getting type 2 diabetes; full details can be found here Konjac Shirataki I will let you know what I think when I use them tonight.

So my first real challenge/test is approaching this weekend. From Monday to Friday I am in the office and busy with work so I am fully occupied. With my family having recently moved back to the UK and my office being in Germany it will be difficult to return home every weekend. Having had a 3 week break over Christmas I have decided to stay in Germany this weekend. I need to keep myself fully occupied though as I know that boredom will lead for me to start to feel hungry. Therefore I have drawn up a list of activities that I could do over the two days.

• Clean the car inside and out
• Rather than a 4 km active walk take a longer stroll in the lovely countryside around my village
• Go swimming
• Clean my apartment
• Do lots of ironing
• Do the paperwork
• Sort out my wardrobe
• Complete my weekly learning (will reveal at a later date).

I may have to warn the residents of Lohmar if I do go swimming though LOL

Water - Soooo important. Essential to drink at least 1.5 litres of water each day & preferably not more than 2 litres. This is needed to flush out the toxins (ketones) that your body is creating through the dieting process.

The weather is decidedly unpleasant this evening so transferred my exercise indoors. I do suggest getting changed into sports gear though as it makes you feel more like you are at a gym. Who needs an expensive step machine? Doing a hundred step-ups at medium speed is very challenging!

Right here is an interesting one - planking! Looks easy but it isn't!!!

The 30 Day Plank Challenge will send your core strength through the roof! Yes, all you have to do is HOLD this position, nothing else! It looks pretty easy, but it isn't!

Day 1 - 20 seconds (managed 15 seconds - exhausted)
Day 2 - 20 seconds
Day 3 - 30 seconds
Day 4 - 30 seconds
Day 5 - 40 seconds
Day 6 - REST
Day 7 - 45 seconds
Day 8 - 45 seconds
Day 9 - 60 seconds
Day 10 - 60 seconds
Day 11 - 60 seconds
Day 12 - 90 seconds
Day 13 - REST
Day 14 - 90 seconds
Day 15 - 90 seconds
Day 16 - 120 seconds
Day 17 - 120 seconds
Day 18 - 150 seconds
Day 19 - REST
Day 20 - 150 seconds
Day 21 - 150 seconds
Day 22 - 180 seconds
Day 23 - 180 seconds
Day 24 - 210 seconds
Day 25 - 210 seconds
Day 26 - REST
Day 27 - 240 seconds
Day 28 - 240 seconds
Day 29 - 270 seconds
Day 30 - PLANK FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!

Benefits of Plank Exercise:

*It strengthens your lower back
*It develops your core muscles – which include the abs, back, hips and the butt.
*Helps you to avoid injuries and encourage good posture
*Can be done anywhere
*Develops your abdominals by targeting the rectus abdominis

Daily Food intake

Breakfast

Special porridge
Mackerel fillet with LF cream-cheese

Lunch

LF Cottage cheese with prawns
LF Natural yoghurt

Snack

4 slices of extra lean turkey

Dinner

Tin of tuna in brine
Salmon fillet
Konjac Shirataki (Tasteless really, most probably will not bother too much).

Motivational Tip - I think to succeed at a diet you need to have a goal/objective. The only other time that I was really successful in losing a lot of weight was before my wedding when I lost a similar amount to my current target. I knew that I would be in a lot of photographs and I wanted to look good on our special day so that was my motivation. Unfortunately about 7kg went back on immediately after during our three week honeymoon in Jamaica :-)

This time I am using fund-raising for my chosen charity JDRF as my objective, as well as obviously trying to become lighter & fitter. By sharing my weight & my goals with friends & colleagues who know my weight and are supporting me through sponsorship means that I cannot fail!

Day 3

Wednesday 8th January - 2014

Got a better night's sleep last night although having just gone to bed I realized that I needed to submit my online progress report to the team at www.dukandiet.co.uk so had to get up and complete before retiring again. I really did feel refreshed waking up this morning and this is most probably due to the fact that whilst alcohol can make you fall asleep quicker, one does not get a good quality of sleep. Also whilst driving to work I had to take evasive action to avoid a head-on collision with a car that was overtaking illegally; I think if I had imbibed the night previously then my reactions would not have been so fast.

I know that a lot of people complain that they are so busy at work that they do not have enough time to do any exercise - been there, done it. It may be more of a challenge to get to a gym regularly but there are certain small steps you can take during your every day working routine that will help. This morning I walked up 62 stairs from our reception to my office. I was slightly out of breath when I reached the top but made a relatively quick recovery. This will be a good benchmark to see how I progress with my fitness as I lose weight.

I have been thinking about some of the harder challenges that I will face in the future. My role at work involves a lot of travel in Europe and also globally. Just before Christmas I spent 10 days in Pune, India as a key customer to one of my suppliers. The guys wanted to entertain me every evening as well as staying in a six star hotel with a wonderful buffet breakfast and a special VIP dining room where there was a choice of 5 different curries for lunch - I do not dare to think how much weight I added during those 10 days!

Luckily for me in the first quarter of the year we have a travel freeze to protect our revenue so the temptation will not be there. However the time will come when I need to travel again and this is the time that I will need to be very prepared and also strong-willed. Luckily at that stage there will be Protein-Vegetable (PV) days and I think that I can get most restaurants to cook me a steak/fish with veg/salad but NO sauce or dressings!

With the combination of allowed foods you can certainly create some tasty meals, lunch included prawn, cottage cheese & chives - it was yummy & filling.

Appetizing Lunch

Felt a little hungry mid-afternoon so I have 6 slices of extra lean ham. The good thing with this diet is that you are not restricted to a daily calorie intake providing you religiously stick to the allowed foods - as this is a protein week it has to be a protein based food with less than 2% fat content.

A much drier evening although a bit cooler so the 4K walk was very pleasant, followed by 15 minutes of light weights. A lot of people are put off going to the gym because of the monthly cost and contractual commitment as well as potentially being laughed at by others. Personally I do not think you need to go to a gym (unless you want to be into serious body-building, maybe later LOL), as the equipment you need is mainly around your house...the walk outside, the steps etc. However I did buy a dumb-bell set which would allow me to keep toned. Not an expensive addition, the set below cost me £37 at http://www.amazon.co.uk/York-20kg-Cast-Iron-Dumbbell/dp/B000N3T0VE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1389253956&sr=8-2&keywords=dumbell+sets

Spent the rest of the evening reading and listening to the radio but 100% not missing a glass of wine!

Food during the day

Breakfast

Special porridge
Mackerel fillet
Low fat cream cheese with chives
Coffee

Lunch

As per picture, low fat cottage cheese with chives and a pack of prawns

Snack 

6 slices of extra lean ham

Dinner

2 chicken breasts in my own marinade
Low fat yoghurt

Tip of the day #2

One of the problems of dramatic weight loss is loose skin. When I am driving to work I exercise my jaw and chin which hopefully will let me get rid of my double/triple chin and keep the skin toned when I do lose the weight. I grit my teeth together, pull my lips out as far as they will go, dip my chin to my chest and and then lift my chin up as far as it will go. I repeat this 20 times. I do get strange looks from other drivers though LOL

Please Note. A lot of the slimming & exercise tips that I share can be found on www.dukandiet.co.uk so I am using the ones that I utilize in my regime.

Day 2

7th January 2014

Ouch my leg muscles are stiff after the walk last night, need to make sure I loosen them up through the day before tonight's walk. Lovely feeling to wake up without the after effects of alcohol although as I said yesterday it was a lot harder to fall asleep. The whites of the eyes are definitely clearer. I took a sneaky peek on the scales and was pleased with what I saw but I will only post actual results on the Monday of each week so it does not become too much of a bore. Whilst I have decided to follow the www.dukandiet.co.uk program in reality I knew where my main problem already lies - alcohol & exercise!

I actually ate a relatively healthy diet with lots of chicken and vegetables but when I got back home after a hard day's work I always opened a bottle of wine - in fact I delude myself it was a 1.5 litre bottle of wine that cost €3 from my local Lidl supermarket in Bonn! I sat down at my kitchen table had 2 or 3 large glasses of wine along with a couple of bowls of peanut wotsits (low-fat variety!). Then I would prepare my evening meal and eventually eat between 20.30 & 21.00 continuing to drink the wine...sometimes I would leave a bit in the bottle, sometimes I would finish it! On extra 'special' nights I would also enjoy a 'few' shots of Amaretto. The alcohol alone equated to over 1000 calories before I had eaten anything!

The beauty of the diet is you can eat as much of your allowed foods as you want so theoretically you should never feel hungry. This first week is a pure protein week though so you can eat as much chicken/fish/seafood as you want with up to 500g of low/no-fat dairy products during the day. You definitely need to be more prepared in terms of buying the appropriate food (need to take my specs to the supermarket now to read the fine print) and prepare your lunch before leaving for work.

I have got a mild headache in the afternoon but this is a known side effect as your body is starting to get energy from your body fat rather than through carbs and this releases ketones...another effect is that ketones can lead to halitosis (bad breath) so make sure you have sugar free gum available.

Apart from the pure protein in this first phase (attack) you are allowed oat bran which aids digestion...yuck you may think. Actually 1 1/2 tablespoons of oats in heated skimmed milk with artificial sweetner = porridge and let me tell you that this is heaven after eaten meat & fish for the rest of the day.

Got into my running gear after getting home from work and added my fluorescent jacket & running headlight - I guess I looked like a miner!

Well once I got onto the street I discovered that it was raining cats & dogs, I managed to do 1 Km before being absolutely drenched so admitted defeat & went home. I did some light weights & step-ups.

Food during the day

Breakfast

2 hard-boiled eggs and 4 slices of ham (2% fat). Eggs are an allowable product but if you intend to have more than 4 a week then you should remove the yolk as they have a high fat content. Also if you have high cholesterol then they should be avoided.

Lunch

Low fat cottage cheese with prawns & low fat yoghurt

Mid afternoon

4 slices of low fat turkey

Pre-run

My porridge as described above (yum yum)

Evening meal

2 salmon fillets cooked in a little skimmed milk and flavoured with lemon & pepper

Exercise tip of the day

B.A.T. Butt, Abdomen & Triceps...If you have an office job like me then it can be quite difficult to do physical activity during the day so this is a little exercise you can do at your desk. Butt/Bottom - whilst seated clench your bottom muscles and hold for 6 seconds & repeat 12 times. Abdomen - whilst seated and not moving your trunk clench your abdominal muscles and hold for 6 seconds & repeat 12 times. Triceps - whilst seated place your palms open on your chair armrest and push down until your body starts to lift, repeat 12 times.

Day 1 - 6th January 2014

The big day has finally arrived. After suffering from breathing problems in November and hardly being able to walk up a set of stairs, I decided that something finally needed to be done about my excessive weight. I have always been overweight since a young baby, as were the rest of my family, and had tried many diets in my adulthood.  I did have a success 20 years ago when I lost 35kg in preparation for my wedding but I have given up ever since.  I thought this time I needed another objective, like my wedding, as this seem to motivate me - no, I am not going to get married again! About 2 years ago my eldest son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and despite all the advances in medical science there is still not a cure for T1D. I decided that I would try and raise money for the charity that supports diabetic research +JDRF UK and set a target of 25kg to lose. By going public with my actual weight and raising sponsorship meant that there was no hiding from the task at hand.  A very easy way of allowing people to sponsor you is through www.justgiving.com and I created my own page; then by using social media I shared the page with my friends and colleagues. By the time the big day arrived I had raised over £1000 in sponsorship and pledges if I achieved my target.

I bought myself a new set of electronic scales that in addition to weight also measured Body Mass Index (BMI) body fat % & body water %.

Day 1 readings

Weight - 138.6 Kg
BMI - 44.1
Fat % - 66.1%
Water % - 24.1%

I also decided to measure my vital statistics as it would be interesting to see how much I lose from where.

Neck - 52.8 Cms
Chest - 130.8 Cms
Tummy - 147.0 Cms
Waist - 129.5 Cms
Top arm - 40.5 Cms
Wrist - 21.8 Cms
Thigh - 72.0 Cms

I had decided to follow the Dukan diet www.dukandiet.co.uk as a number of my colleagues lost significant weight through this program. I will go into more details of the program in later days. I posted my weight on www.facebook.com so there was no hiding from my friends & colleagues and they would want to check that I had reached my target & not cheated.

Week 1 of the Dukan diet is very straightforward - all protein.

Breakfast was 2 hard boiled eggs, seasoned with salt & pepper.

Off to the office and had a lot of motivational chats with my colleagues; one problem is that I have a very sedentary job and sit at my desk most of the day.

Lunch was very low fat (2.2%) plain cottage cheese with a packet of shrimps.

I need to remember to drink lots of water as I had not been previously so managed 10 glasses during the day which obviously meant that there were a lot more visits to the bathroom! In terms of other drinks I had 2 cups of black coffee during the day and a bottle of Coca-Cola Zero. After 3 pm I started to feel hungry so I need to increase my protein intake at lunchtime as there is no restriction to the amount you have.

Stopped at the supermarket on the way home to get a few extra items that I was allowed to eat. One of the problems that I face is that I work in Germany and the range of low/no fat items on sale are a lot more limited that at UK supermarkets.

Arrived home at 18.15 and this is the most challenging time of the day for me as I normally used to open a bottle of wine and a packet of nuts. It was raining very heavily outside but I pulled on my 'running gear' & left the house. I had measured a 4 km route from my house so I did this - must remember to buy a running light as it was pitch black! Did the 4 Km in 47 minutes and arrived home very wet.

I prepared my dinner and did 15 minutes of light weight lifting.

Dinner consisted of a breast of chicken covered with lots of spices & herbs and a packet of prawns.

To keep myself occupied I signed up to an online learning course and enjoyed 90 minutes of learning about forensic science.

Last problem of the day was that normally I had drunk a fair amount of alcohol and normally fell asleep in a drunk slumber but this evening I was sober & alert - it took a long time to fall asleep,

So at the end of day 1 I felt happy but tired...here are some photos of me showing my weight problem