Sunday 29 January 2012

Biggest Loser Week 1

“In order to succeed you must fail, so that you know what not to do the next time.” ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

Last post 24 October – dear me – not good. That just about sums up things in this life that is Lynne.

The Chest infection didn’t clear. Then I got a kidney infection. Then I got another chest infection. Worse was still to come and I got a serious dose of “cant be arsed” and that’s how I ended 2011.

2012 arrived with great expectations and still I barely shifted this fat hillbilly ass.

As if by magic a wonderful present fluttered its way into my Inbox. A Groupon offer for an 8 week Richard Callender Biggest Loser challenge for £40. Never one to resist a challenge I signed up there and then. Before anybody starts having a go about shakes and meal replacement bars… it’s not like that, honest.

Part of the Challenge was to clear the fridge and cupboards of all crap. This was such a satisfying task. I do believe the binmen of Mold have put in a complaint about the weight of a certain bin on Alexandra Road :-) Then there was the “big” shop. 2 ½ in Asda is enough to drive anybody to drink but the wine remained firmly on the shelf.

The Challenge itself started last Sunday. I weighed a horrific 17stone 11.2lbs. I got the kids to take proper Biggest Loser before pictures. Wearing only a sports bra and running shorts. Front, back and one from each side. They were absolutely horrendous and obviously, I bawled my eyes out. Then when I realised 1. nobody was taking any notice of me 2.it wasn’t doing any good and 3. the whole point in taking the pics is to show how bad I’ve got and how good I’m going to feel looking back did I stop the whinging and embrace the challenge with open arms.

There is a calorie restriction of 1200 and a sample menu which included lots of bread so that was totally out for me. The logic behind it is 45-65% of calories should come from carbs, 20-30% from fat and 15-25% from protein. I was introduced to the app myfitnesspal very early on in the week and basically I just scanned everything. It’s been the biggest eye opener ever to this person who’s tried every diet on the planet and thought I knew the calorific value of everything. I asked my boss to get me a “healthy” wrap and was chuffed when he brought back a prawn cocktail. I was horrified to find out it contained 495 calories and 24.9g of fat. I’m beginning to understand now exactly why I’m so fat.

Only on the prawn cocktail day did I go over my allowance and then it was only by 17 calories.

Exercise wise the challenge is to do between 400 and 600 extra calories a day which I’ve managed quite easily. There is a detailed exercise plan which I’ve tweeked a bit here and there to fit in with my triathlon training but lets just say I never new burpees were so painful, what a plyometric squat was and thought a downward dog was an Australian Dingo. I’ve hurt a bit (well quite a lot actually) but am absolutely delighted to report no pain no gain has given me a weight loss of 8.2lbs.

Onwards and upwards – Chirk 11 weeks and counting and I’ve entered the Chester half on 13 May

1 comment:

Mx said...

This is fantastic stuff Lynne - I think that quite possibly one of the hardest things is finding something that works for you, there are so many diets and eating plans out there. Keep up the good work - and keep on posting so we can praise/shout/jolly you along as necessary! Min x