How to Lose 2 Stone in 2 months. Week 2

Two weeks ago I set myself the target of losing 2 Stone in 2 months. Last week I completed the first weekly update. I managed to lose just under a kilogram in weight.

This week my goals were:-

1. Give up lunch club.
2. Run at least 3 times this week.
3. Eat sensibly.
4. Drink no alcohol whatsoever.
5. Cycle extra miles on the way to work for at least 2 shifts.
6. Do 100 sit-ups every day (by way of punishment for my terrible performance in week 1)

This is how I got on .......

Giving up lunch club proved to be quite easy, once I got used to being ostracised from the other members. However, I can't actually say I've replaced the big batches and pork pies with healthier fodder. But, being an optimistic kind of guy, I'm seeing this as an opportunity rather than a failing.

The lack of diet is a good thing because I clearly have scope for quicker weight loss in the remaining 6 weeks if I stray from my goal.... and I do appear to be straying. In theory, the first two weeks should be the time for shedding the "watery" weight from my system. But being a fairly active bloke, I guess there wasn't much to get rid of (I always cycle to work and back, which is about 50 miles a week). What I have to get rid of is fat....purest, gloopiest fat.

Having aimed to run at least 3 times this week, I'm pleased to say I will have run 4 times (after tonight). My first run was on Monday morning, prior to an extended bike ride into work. On Tuesday I ran a bit further and managed another hour-long ride into work.

By Wednesday my legs were aching a touch. Since running with the new trainers, my legs are suffering less. Instead of the crippling pains of the past, my legs feel like they would after a really tough bike ride ... in other words they feel healthy achey, not broken and twisted. This isn't a small psychological boost, it's a dramatic change that has affected my opinion of running. Instead of dreading jogging, I'm actually looking forward to it.

I ran last night for 35 minutes and plan on going out late tonight with a running friend for the same distance. He's rather athletic so I expect we shall finish the run a bit quicker.

Cycling isn't going to get me down to target weight, mainly because of my other commitments. Running on the other hand is proving to be very helpful indeed.

At my present rate of weight loss, I shall lose 1.5 Stone in 2 months. This isn't acceptable. I can't change the Blog title now, there's at least 3 people in the world who would notice!

So I've got to get a little more extreme. So far, apart from the occasional raised eyebrow at work when I mention my exercise regime, there's nothing really exceptional about my weekly exercises. This will have to change. Christmas is coming and I envisage alcohol intake to only increase over at least 4 of the remaining 6 weeks. I will have to bite the bullet and consider dieting.

I don't diet well. I've never lost weight through diet. I've lost a lot of weight before, but this was during the brighter months, and achieved through [frankly] excessive cycling. I love food. Genetically I am as far removed from the Anoxeria as possible. In fact, when I get hungry I almost panic. I have a Caveman fear of hunger. Millions of years ago hunger would have been a constant threat and a short step from death. In order to survive, Cavemen and Caveladies would feel a sense of unease when their stomach's rumbled. This would grow into a gnawing panic if the hunger wasn't tackled quickly. The Cavefolk with the most developed early-warning system would inevitably thrive. Millions of years ago fussy eaters tended to become food for less fussy creatures.

I have this panic gene, unfortunately in a world where junk food is always less than a minute's walk away. Whenever I feel hungry I need to eat. As you can imagine, I'm naturally more inclined to get fat than waste away.

The thought of dieting is alien to me. I will struggle with this more than excerising. However, without a few sensible restrictions here and there, I'll fail to meet my target. I'm not talking about Christian Bale approach to diet (he consumed 120 calories a day in order to get his look for The Machinist). I'm thinking a moderately healthy approach that will leave me managably peckish, rather than ravenous. I lost just over a kilogram in weight this week, showing that my minor alterations from week 1 are taking effect. A small dietary alteration with an increased exercise regime should do the job.

Losing approx 1/3 of a stone in two weeks isn't going to cut it. In a fortnight I need to weigh 15 stone to get on track.

I've failed this week on alcohol consumption. Giving myself a goal of zero alcohol was perhaps a little optimistic, even for me. I've breached on two occasions (friday and saturday night). On both breaches I ate around 1000 calories of junk, as I always do when drunk. Every sober night I ate a healthy dinner and went to bed without snacking. Clearly this effects my target more than anything else. It will need addressing .... but probably not this week.

Predictably, my sit-ups are sporadic and I only managed about 300 in total this week.

What I like about goals is that if there's enough of them, you can break a few without ruining the overall target. Keeping my eye on the prize, the goals for next week are:-

1. Run at least 5 times through the week.
2. Cycle at least 40 miles on both Monday and Tuesday (my days off).
3. Eat Sensibly .... This may require some guidelines next week!
4. Drink alcohol on one night only.
5. Cycle extra miles to work on 2 of the 3 late shifts.
6. Do 100 sit-ups every day.

Looking out of the rain-streaked window I'm not particularly looking forward to completing the outdoor activities. But I'm nothing if not determined!