Nine Months to Target

Over  the last few weeks I have been hovering around my target of 9st 12lb and then this week I was bang on so I have switched to maintenance and thought I should do an update post!

Stuart and I had switched to Monday & Wednesday for our fast days (previously Monday and Thursday) as Stuart started playing football on a Wednesday and doing the fast day on the same day fitted better with meals etc. It appeared to work well for both of us dieting wise too. I’d often see a good weightloss on a Thursday but even after eating normally on a Thursday and usually drinking, I’d lose weight again on the Friday (I only ever counted the Friday weigh in, I know you aren’t meant to weigh yourself too often but was just curious to see the pattern).

To remind you what my starting statistics were:

Weight: 10st 12.2lb
Body fat: 16.6%
BMI: 24.4
Chest: 35”; Waist: 37”; Hips: 42”; and Thigh: 23”

and now my final statistics are:

Weight: 9st 12lb
Body fat: aprox 15.6
BMI: aprox 22
Chest: 35”; Waist: 35”; Hips: 39”; and Thigh: 21.5”

(A reminder that my height is 5’6” – body fat & BMI are aproximate as I didn’t take note of them when I weighed myself yesterday.)

So, in 9 months, a total of 1 stone off and 6.5 inches. I wish I had a decent before and after photo but I didn’t take starting photos in January and then only took photos after on days when I was feeling slim. This is the best I could do (remember I didn’t actually have a lot to lose as I was already healthy BMI). The first photos were taken on a ‘slim’ day in February and the second lot were taken today.

I’m happy with how I look and feel and as I’ve reached my target I’m now switching to fasting just one day a week. Though, to start with, I’ll still be watching what I’m eating on the now non-fast day just to see how it affects my weight, I wont be restricting myself to 500 calories and I intend to eat 3 meals a day instead of 2.

Today is the first day that should have been a fast day and it does feel weird to eat but this whole experience has taught me some better habits. Things like, when making the kids dinner, I don’t snack as I’m making it and don’t automatically finish up whatever they leave.

I’ve also enjoyed having some days where I don’t drink any alcohol. I eat a lot less chocolate and enjoy more fruit and vegetables.

As I said at the beginning of starting the 5:2 Lifestyle, it wasn’t all about losing weight it was about improving health. The overall thing I think I’ve noticed healthwise is the speed in which I get over colds. I’ve never been a ‘sick’ person and don’t tend to catch many colds/viruses so it isn’t overly noticeable whether I’ve caught less in the last 9 months but I have often felt run down like I’m going down with something but then it has gone the next day and never actually materialises. Anything that is a little more stubborn I seem to recover from a lot quicker.

On the downside, I do get more headaches on fast days but think that is when I don’t drink enough water. I have also suffered from sleep paralysis about half a dozen times (which is more frequently than previously) and it appears to happen on the night that follows the day I’ve been fasting. This can’t solely be attributed to fasting, however, because it also relates to periods when I’m having more irregular sleep patterns due to Millie waking.

Unfortunately, exercise has fallen by the weyside since my holiday in June so I do intend to get back on it in the near future. I fully expect my weight to increase a little as the fat turns to muscle but I’m OK with that because I also expect to see the wobbly bits go a little less wobbly. Like I said above, I am now happy with how I look – which means I am happy with my overall silhouette. I don’t think I want to lose any more fat just through dieting and think I need to tone up now to improve my figure further. Therefore, weight is now less important if that makes sense.

Silent Sunday