For a personal blog, I usually don’t blog about personal stuff that happens in my life, its not that I’m ashamed or anything its just a) its pretty boring and b) I don’t want to name names 
I’m a big lad, I’ll be the first to admit it.. if I’m honest its always been in the back of my mind that “I probably shouldn’t eat this much because its probably bad for me” but I’m quite stubborn (and I really really like buttons).
Cadbury Buttons
Big guys can have a laugh about it, this video from channel 4 all about “man boobs” is both horrifying and funny.
I’m not usually self conscious about things, I don’t mind public speaking, I don’t mind making a fool of myself or having a real laugh but I’ve ALWAYS hated things like swimming and sunbathing anywhere where I did have to get my t-shirt off.
So I’m not going to crash diet.. I’m not going to be cutting out chocolate for a year like I did in `07 (which did help a bit) but I am going to be cutting down on a lot and actually… getting off my arse.
I put on a hell of a lot of weight when I left Stickyeyes and started to work at home. The kitchen was a room away and the supermarket was 3 minutes down the road, food was easy to get to and I just kept constantly snacking as I wasn’t going to the office (well I was but the office was down 16 steps…) I didn’t get much exercise.
So I’ve tried a few scales and my weight is anywhere between 17 and a half stone to 22 stone… Wii Fit says its 19 stone and I`ll be honest, when I saw that number it didn’t feel nice.
So heres my current plan;
- Less snacks at home and work… (this is going to be the hardest one)
- Wii Fit daily
- Fix the bike and get out on it at least twice a week
- Take some time out at home to cook properly rather than heat and eat.
Everyone has dieting advice and everyone has a mate who stopped eating $food and it just fell off, let me say I’ve tried a lot of things (apart from a big cork stopper (I actually misspelled that one a couple of times and that could have been embarrassing) ).
My theory with this is that well, once I tend to publicly announce something I don’t tend to go back on it so this is more a kick up the arse for me and hell the lose weight ads on google don’t pay badly 
I’m going to try and do a regular update on my process probably each week… if I have a good week let me know how proud you are and if I have a bad week then… you can tell me off
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can i tell you off in person? ;-P
as long as it doesn’t involve you hurting me..
The evil Tesco might be able to help as well – have you seen this?
http://www.tescotracker.com/
Good effort though Dom, I hope it goes well! I hear cutting down on bread is a winner but I’m not diet expert that’s for sure.
As you said making this public statement is good so, with your will power & the support of friends, you’ve taken the first step – Well done.
Will the other cyclist at yours also be going out on the rides ;o)
Hey Dom,
As promised, here is an overview of what I did to sort my excess baggage;
The idea was to cut out wheat and dairy, primarily to see if they affected my mood, energy levels etc… I was feelin a bit crap at the time and someone suggested I try it, so I did. I didn’t know it would completely sort out my sluggish digestive system and stimulate weight loss and a return to a more modest frame, but it did. Apparently wheat, or gluten, can clog up your digestive tract – leaves you unable to digest any food properly and feeling hungry all the time. Dairy is fat. Nothing wrong with either, but overdosing on them can lead to problems. Anyway…
Breakfast is really important; 6 days a week I drink (yes I still do all this now it’s that good!) a glass of smoothie and eat any decent cereal (i.e. no added crap – watch out for those Frosties dude!) with any fresh fruit, an alpro soya yoghurt and a bit of soya milk. I don’t like soya milk but the yoghurt makes it a little like Yoplait – tis’ good! If you don’t like that try oat, rice or other milk, recently I’ve started making my own milk from almonds, it’s really easy; soak them overnight, blend with water, strain and enjoy! Then one day a week have whatever you want, a fry up (no butter!); bacon, eggs, sausage, beans, mushrooms, tomato – all is good! Smoked mackerel or salmon with scrambled/poached eggs – soya milk works well for scrambled eggs!! Whatever – just no wheat or dairy!
Lunch: I’m a sucker for a sarnie, bread and cheese was a staple for years and cutting it out was hard! But there are alternatives, spelt or rye breads are good and oat cakes taste great and also have a really low Glycemic Index. Hummus is awesome – try mixing your own with lemon, pepper, paprika, chilli or pesto etc… Soups are really, really easy and cheap to make and there are loads of different dairy free ones to try and lots work well with soya milk. Jacket Potatoes – but again avoid the butter and cheese – chilli-con-carne, beans are good!
Dinner is also pretty easy, any roast with vegetables – especially try roasting fish – Salmon is very good for you. Also works really well smeared with hot indian lime pickle, roasted and served with basmati rice and a vegetable sabji! Stir fry veg with rice is also very easy to do. Bangers and mash (soya milk again), corn wrap fajitas with those Discovery sauces are delicious (one of the very few processed foodstuffs I’d actually recommend – those and the Lloyd Grossman are pretty good). Avoid eating too much meat and the meat you do buy go to somewhere really good – preferably organic if you can find it and pay lots of money for it! Avoid £3 Chickens!
Snacks; fruit and vegetables are king! Buy some good strawberries or a nice mango. Dried fruits are good too. Nuts – but soak the dried unsalted unroasted ones like almonds overnight – it makes them ‘fresh’ again! Don’t do this with cashews – it doesn’t work apparently!
The idea isn’t to diet as such, and you should eat as much as you like, I ate loads and still lost the weight. I am sure if you do half of what I have suggested you will feel loads better.
Oh and keep drinking water
Hope this helps and good luck
Mungs x
I watched a program the other night on BBC2, well worth watching.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jz1kq
She tested all the diets about pills, vitamins and books, but it all comes down to one thing, burn more calories than you eat. So as long as you exercise too burn off calories, you can still eat them chocolate buttons!
My diet starts next week
I lost a lot of weight once by cutting out the booze. Hard to sustain though
They say telling everyone you’re on a diet is the best thing do to as everyone will keep harping on about it – can’t get more public than this!
Like Will, I lost a load through not drinking but it’s not something you can realistically keep up which is why I am now back on (yet another) diet.
Good luck and drink lots of water (it really does help)!
@stuart I’m trying to stay away from things like that and weight watchers that make me count everything I eat because I’d get bored of that quickly.
@Mungo thats for that mate, I will keep referencing that
@Rob I`ll watch that later, cheers
@Will in all honesty I don’t drink that much, unless im at at event or meetup, I hardly drink.. I don’t drink at home at all
@Lynne thanks, giving up drinking wouldnt be THAT hard for me but giving up pepsi max and stuff would be
Good luck mate! Hope you get to where you want to. =)
Good luck Dom, as others have said it really is just about eating sensibly and frequent exercise, but start it slow and build it up gradually.
There are two key things that I keep in mind…
- It is often bad to say “going on a diet” as that implies you will stop it at some point, trouble is, stopping a diet leads to the return of old habits, it means you will always be on-off-on-off a diet, etc… the key to success here is finding a happy medium of a long-term diet and lifestyle change.
- With that in mind, don’t give up, find a comfortable combination of healthy eating and exercise and maintain your regime – you will reap the rewards for the rest of your life.
You can do it!
Good luck dude – I know diet comes into it loads but for me the most important thing is exercise, especially since us internet folk are sat at a desk most of the time
Unfortunately going to the gym is boring as hell but like you say mountain biking is great and there are other things like playing frisbee or scatch in the park or even just going for a walk that can mix your exercise up a bit and keep it fun. I bet you used to play outside every evening as a kid? It’s funny, after going to the park a few days in a row after work you miss it when you don’t go
@Dom Fair play!
@Mungo I have just drooled all over myself – delicious food talk mmm
Drinking nowt but water (apart from one cup of tea in the morning) and having pasta or salad instead of a sandwich made a big difference to me a while back.
Over the years I’ve lost and gained weight constantly. Right now I’m about the heaviest I’ve been in around 5 years, and after the thing in January the docs are advising all sorts of things I know won’t work for me. Mostly what you would expect, except it’s in the wrong context for my lifestyle – you simply can’t get decent salads every day if you’re travelling all over the country.
One thing that always does work for me is reading this: http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html
Basically, there is nothing hard about this once you get into your head how your body deals with food. Once you understand that, you realise you don’t eat until you’re actually quite hungry and then when you do you want to be careful about what you eat, and the quantities involved.
I’ve actually put on weight since cutting down on the booze as I’m comfort-eating as compensation – a pint of Guinness is around 175kCal IIRC, and that’s equivalent to a digestive biscuit – I know which I’d rather have. However, it’s not just the kCals you need to watch, it’s how it’s delivered. Watch out for fat, salt and sugars as it’s easy to watch one thing and cause problems with other stuff.
Anyway, I’m probably about the same weight as you, but am a little bit taller so my BMI is probably lower. I need to shift it, so I’ll wait a week to give you a head start, and then we’ll race to BMI of 25.0, OK?
Good luck, regardless.
Crikey Paul,
Think I lost 200kCal just reading the index, hehe
Seriously though, cheers for that will have a good read, and good luck!!
As the proud owner of a pair of man boobs – the bad news is that even if you lose weight, the boobs will be the last thing you lose since the genetics that cause them cause you to put on weight above the waist.
3500 calories is one pound – so to lose weight, eat less calories or take a huge amount of excercise – like cycling 10 miles to work everyday. I can’t be bothered with the excercise so I am eating no refined carbs (fruit is ok) and lots more veggies, and about half the meat protein I used to – lost 35 pounds 2.5 stone in 2 months.
It can be done, but you have to be committed. What works for me at http:1500cal.com.
Dave
.-= Dave´s last blog ..Stuffed Squash Blossoms =-.
I found that by cutting-out most processed foods, drinking a minimum of 6 glasses of water and cycling to and from work paid dividends. I also used to drink a lot of red wine which probably contributed to my weight issue.
As a fellow fattie, I just wanted to say…I feel your pain.
I once lost 5 stone by eating one meal a day and nothing more but have slowly put it back on again over the last few years and I’m now bigger than ever.
Yes I feel crap about it but I’ll get round to it when I’m ready I suppose?!?
So that’s all..no advice, just wanted to say that I hear your pain.
.-= Jon Ashworth´s last blog ..WIN! Tickets to the NEC Golf Show with FindtheFairways! =-.