Now or Never

Hello My name is Paul and I am from Kent in the UK, on the 21st January 2013 I set out a fitness plan to help myself lose 71 lbs (5 stone) in 12 months, my start weight was 253lbs (18 stone 1lb) and my goal weight was 182 lbs (13 stone) My BMI this time last year was 34.3 and I knew that in order to have a normal BMI I needed to get down to 13 stone = a BMI of 24.7.

For me personally this was going to be an enormous challenge, as I have little or no well-power whatsoever, I have been overweight for most of my adult life, I am 51 years of age and I knew it needed to be now or never? So I spoke with a few friends and family and I got all the encouragement and support I needed to start my journey.

I devised a simple EXCEL spreadsheet that set out a yearly plan, within this plan I set out specific realistic targets for me to achieve every few months, each Sunday morning I weighed myself and kept a log of the weight against the target set within the spreadsheet. It didn’t take me long to get into the swing of things, I used the treadmill in my garage and set it at a fast pace walk and kept to this, 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening, this I believe was a key part of my plan along with a low fat diet.

Throughout the last 12 months, if I strayed off course, I would realign the target, this really helped me stay positive and back on course to achieve the overall goal. I found that I needed a date to fix my thoughts on, so my son’s wedding in July was the first real focus date within the calendar. I wanted to get into a certain size suit for the wedding, so this kept me totally focused and on target, as it turned out, I needed to be resized again a few weeks before the wedding, as I actually dropped two suit sizes.

By August I was well on my way and had dropped over 3 stone in weight, by September my weight plateaued, it seemed that I hit a brick wall! I was told that this happens, this was a very frustrating period, then during the end of October my Son knew I was struggling and downloaded myfitnesspal to my iPhone, at first I couldn’t get used to recording all my calorie intake, it seemed far too arduous at the time, but I stuck with it and noticed after the first week I’d actually lost 5 lbs? To me this was fantastic and it give me the kick up the rear that I needed, this continued for a number of weeks and by mid December 2013 I was down to 13 stone 5 lbs, and was on course to achieve 13 stone by the 21st January 2014 – Christmas came and yes you guessed it, I put on 5 lbs, someone suggested I should change my fitness routine, because the 20 minute fast pace walk in the morning and evening my body may have getting used to it, so I started to use my wife’s exercise bike and as predicted, the weight started to fall off again. At my last Sunday morning weigh in, Sunday 19th January 2014 I hit 13 stone (182 lbs) My BMI recorded at 24.7 which means for the first time in over 30 years I am at a normal weight for my height!

It’s been quite a journey, the more weight that fell off, the better I felt, I used to get real bad back pains, since losing the weight I no longer get these at all, my suit jacket chest size used to be 48” I am not down to a 42”, my waist size used to be 42” I am now a size 32” – My breathing has improved, I am told by family and friends that I look so much healthier and better than they have ever seen me before!

I know how hard it is to lose weight, I know how easy it is to make excuses and just let things drift, this time last year I could think of a million reasons why I should give up and continue back to old lifestyle, when in reality all that is needed is one good reason to become healthy, enjoy life and be healthy, if not for yourself, but for the Children and Grandchildren who need you around in the coming years.

Someone once told me, nothing tastes as good as slim feels, and she was absolutely right 

If you want a copy of my spread-sheet to set out your own plan or if you want some encouragement within www.myfitnesspa.com, then add me as friend at pautandy1962

Good luck on your personal journey, you don’t need to do this alone, it helps to share your news and successes.

Best wishes - Paul