Great news - weight target achieved - now weigh 12st 12lb from initial 16st 2lb at 1st January.
For the last 3 weeks, I have reintroduced normal lunch and just have a milk shake in the morning. Started using Slimfast shakes as Morrisons had a two-for-one offer on the large tins. The difference between Biggest Loser and Slimfast powders is that with Slimfast you mix the powder with milk (I use skimmed off course) and with Biggest Loser you just mix with water. I really look forward to my morning vanilla milkshake.
I still have not visited a gym or undertaken any extra strenuous exercise - I decided that I would lose the weight first and then go to the gym to tone up - no point hauling an extra 3 stone around the gym and wearing myself out.
When I say I have introduced normal lunch and have not done any exercise, I need to qualify this a bit. I have been volunteering at the Olympics doing IT support in the Athletes Village. This does mean that I am walking more than normal since I usually work from home and don't get out much. Provided it is not raining, I walk the 10 minutes from the station to the workforce entrance plus I'm walking around the Athletes Village as I go around fixing or checking computers and printers.
Also, as part of the perks of being a GamesMaker is that you get a meal voucher where you have a choice of a sandwich, a hot meal, a salad or even a McDonalds. Occasionally I have the hot meal but mostly I go for the salad option which is usually more substantial than the hot meal. There are about 12 different salad elements to select from including a green leaf (usually lettuce) and the usual tomatoes, cucumber, cold peas, red/green peppers, beetroot, onions, cauliflower and then with a variety of bean mixes and things like curried rice, cous-cous, houmus followed by a cold meat (choice of chicken, ham, bacon and sometimes beef), cheese (grated or sliced cheddar or cottage cheese) and an egg. You then select a piece of fruit and a nutri-grain bar. Usually my plate is overflowing. A couple of times I went to the McDonalds and tried their chicken salad which wasn't bad - avoid the dressings though which are high in calories.
On my last visit to the doctor, my diabetes tablets (Metformin) have been reduced from 3 a day down to 1 a day. I expect to drop these entirely on my next review so that I am back to diet only control of my blood sugar. My 'before breakfast' reading has been hovering around 5.5 although I still have peaks up to 7 if I have indulged a bit the previous day.
Also blood pressure has been very good and constant at around 130/70 so I am expecting a reduction on my blood pressure pills.
This brings me back to why I started this weight loss project. It was two things mainly. First, my daughter got married last summer and in the photos I looked huge - even my 46" jacket was pulling when buttoned up for the official photos - I wasn't happy looking at those pictures at all.
Secondly, it was mainly triggered by my desire to get rid of medications and to try to reverse the diabetes - I really didn't want to go from diet-only to medication and then to injections as a doctor had predicted I would.
There has also been another great bonus - a few years ago I went to one of these designer outlet villages and went into the Versace store - I have never been into or bought any designer clothes before - I mean £100 for a pair of jeans - get real! Anyway, I saw this pair of Versace casual trousers (very dark plum colour) in a sale for about £15 (probably reduced because they were this plum colour). It was waist 38 (a very small 38 - more like 37 and very slim fitting). I was waist 42 so didn't even think to try them on. But I said to myself, one day I will wear them. And of course you guessed it - I have been wearing these very comfortably recently when going out. And I can't deny that I do like the comments of friends that haven't seen me for a while.
I've amended my weight targets a little bit - I would like to get my BMI down a little bit more to say 23 and my weight to about 12 and half stone although my wife is saying that I should stop now and not lose any more weight. I'll probably stick with the shakes in the morning and occasionally use a meal replacement bar at lunch if I see my weight creeping up. After the Olympics and a short holiday in Scotland, I intend to start going to the gym and go swimming a few times a week again - I might even cycle there if the weather is not too bad.
Hope my diary has been encouraging for others - I'm really pleased, not just with the weight loss but that it has been no struggle at all - I think it is all about setting realistic and achievable goals and giving yourself long enough so that any changes you make to your diet became the norm and so then it is easy to keep it up.
