Puggso_32 - The diary

Over the past 15 months I have lost 1 and a half stones (or 21 pounds) simply through healthy eating and increased exercise, most of which is walking.

However by about September this year I had hit a complete brick wall. Nothing was being gained but at the same time nothing was being lost either.

Always been a fat guy and I was enjoying the change I had made physically in that time as pictures of myself prove I was getting slimmer, especially at the face and neck.

So with this brick wall still there I have decided to change my plan and on monday I will commence on a meal replacement diet mostly of shakes (store own brand - Tesco if you are in the UK ) and water and the odd diet coke or something. The plan recommends 1 meal a day of up to 600 calories but I want to try it without the meal first and just an additional shake to see how it goes.

My family think I'm nuts doing it this close to Christmas but I have exams in January which I will be studying for constantly plus I figure if I can get past Christmas fine then I can get past anything.

My friends don't really know as it raises too many questions and watching eyes I find so instead of talking about it in my normal blogs I have found your site through google and look forward to telling the story of my (hopeful) weight loss.

I'm hoping for a loss of about 63 pounds. I'm very short for a guy (5'1") so that is quite a substantial amount for someone of my height.

I'll put in my starting weight on Monday in a weigh in thread, for tonight however I am going out on the booze for one last time as I plan to be completely sober during this.

Cheers for reading,

Puggso_32

Firstly well done on your weight loss thus far ....

Good luck on your journey.

No more "Puggso_32, fat guy"

CC x

P.S - enjoy yourself tonight.

cah-ching said:

Firstly well done on your weight loss thus far ....

Good luck on your journey.

No more "Puggso_32, fat guy"

CC x

P.S - enjoy yourself tonight.

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Thanks very much, congrats on yours too so far! I hope keeping it somewhere were others can check and call on me when I havn't updated or something will give an added motivation.

And I will enjoy myself tonight, finished uni for Christmas, no drinking from Monday and I wont see a lot of my mates until after my exams in January...plus I like finding excuses for it

good for you babe.

what are you studying?

cah-ching said:

good for you babe.

what are you studying?

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I'm studying Accountancy. In my 4th and final year and Glasgow Caledonian University. Just finished the first semester of that final year. 2 exams for January but also a 15000 word dissertation due in April which needs some extreme attention on too.

It is alright, not as boring as you would assume. Well I don't think so, it's not all sitting with a calculators trying to work out things in a boring manner (like Louis Tulley from Ghostbusters ) but a lot of discussions and individual ideas and the likes.

And if you are not asleep by now then I'm impressed!

Well I wasn't asleep when you posted but I was in bed working from my laptop.

I don't know many accountants; but I don't believe in stereotypes either (man is born free - it is society that bounds him in chains). I once wanted to be an accountant .. an actuary then wanted to be an accountant, but I'm not very good at maths so went into sciences. However I do have my foundation year CIMA that I did as a hobby a couple of years ago to satisfy my curiousity. I used to subscribe to PQ Magazine as well. I'm still doing sciences though. Dissertations are a real bind, I've completed two in my life which weren't too bad - I really want to do a PhD but the thought of writing 50,000 words leaves me numb - although I have been enquiring!

So .... if YOU are awake reading this ..... I'm seriously impressed ... however I suspect you aren't

Have a good day.

Hey Puggso, good luck to you on your journey...I found that when you've made the decision that you want to lose weight, then it needs to be NOW! Good on you for not waiting 'til after the holidays!

17th December - The Beginning

Right, well here it starts I guess. I would say I have enjoyed my first shake on this but alas I don't have any skimmed milk so will have to wander down to Tesco soon and actually pick it up! I'm interested to see if they actually feel like they have replaced a meal, if not then I have plenty of water to back me up.

My idea behind this was reading the diaries of film director Kevin Smith called "My Boring Ass Life". In it before making one of his films he went on the Optifast plan I think it was and he lost pretty much the same amount as I wish to lose. Although admittedly he has put it back on but if you were to read the diary you'd learn his eating habits are terrible...much worse than mine anyway.

But alas, today not only do I start this but I start studying for my exams, first of which is on 7th January; 3 weeks today. At this time of year the house is always full of people with the schools being off and parents being off work and people visiting so last year I hit on a plan, studying through the night and sleep during the day. It worked a treat and because the temptation of food - I find - lessens when you have to make it yourself I actually got through Christmas last year without gaining any weight which, considering I wasn't really trying, I thought was good. Unfortunatly I havn't managed to adjust my sleep pattern yet so that is something I need to work on as well as adjusting to not eating any food.

Hopefully this diary will be updated frequently (well I need to study, and this would be a distraction so it would be perfect) but I don't see it being every day as that would be overkill. Maybe twice a week just to keep up on how I'm feeling and everything else. Probably be more often in the starting period as my body tries to adjust.

But anyway....here it begins for me, lets see how we get on eh?

I'm sure you will do well. There are plenty of people here who've undergone the journey who'll inspire you (I'm not one of them btw! - I'm one of those hypocrites who posts encouragement on others diaries but can't do it myself. )

cah-ching said:

I'm sure you will do well. There are plenty of people here who've undergone the journey who'll inspire you (I'm not one of them btw! - I'm one of those hypocrites who posts encouragement on others diaries but can't do it myself. )

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I think you'll find losing 46lb is a great achievement so far and I'm sure you'll get to where you want to be!

Wedesday 19th December

Finally swapped my body clock to studying at night, well I havn't yet but once I actually sleep it should work (it being 8.02am and being up since about 2pm yesterday and starting to see things move at the corner of my eye while studying thinks I should sleep soulndly).

Anyway, its been going good so far. Not as hungry as I thought I would be, have been drinking water like it was going out of fashion mind you...resulting in many toilet trips haha!

But I made a change, instead of the 4 shakes at about 205 calories a pop I'm cutting down to 2 a day and a 400/500 calorie meal. The shakes aren't overly filling I think dropping one completely will be fine with water covering it and the other one will be the meal. This should work on the hunger pangs that hit now and then.

I'm desperate for Monday to come to see what different has been made. A cheeky jump on the scales yesterday showed a drop already (although not sure how much, old school scales and the pounds are in 2s and i wasn't in the mood to squint at my toes and count little lines then do multiplication in my head) so hopefully something decent will have came off, which will be nice as it should add additional motivation on to that I already have.

PS - For anyone not fully aware yet, this wont just be a diary about food but encompass a lot of my life...as it will be my life it affects and will always be running through it so feel it is all relevant in the big picture. If you don't want to read my poor existence of a life then simply don't open the thread...it is all I ask

Cheers for reading

Well done for starting, good luck for your weight loss journey too. I think adding a meal is a good idea and will help keep you on track. Hope you've managed to get off to sleep and I look forward to reading your thread. xxxx

Hi there,

I'll be reading your diary. Diaries are a means of recording things ... and aren't neccessarily focused upon 'the weightloss journey'.

Good luck dear ...

xx

Thanks both of you

hopefully you're in bed now .....

cah-ching said:

hopefully you're in bed now .....

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Your post was 20 hours ago...I make that 7:30am.

Nope, wasn't in bed...in fact was still studying :sigh:

Anyway,

21st December - 3 day rule

I'm a big believer in the idea of the 3 day rule. If you are not aware of it basically it is any big change you make to yourself will have been adapted by your body after 3 days. This can be anything from quitting smoking to beginning fitness training. For my purposes I'm sure we all know what I'm referring to.

I can't even remember when I started this properly due to my complete lack of a body clock. All I know was it was on Monday, and it is now 3:36am Friday so I have passed the 3 days. And I believe my hypothesis (well not mine, but I couldn't find an internet link to something similar so I am claiming it!) holds ground. The 2 shakes, 1 meal and as much water and diet fizzy juice as I can take works.

I'm still hungry but it's never an intense feeling or something which overrides all my other senses leaving me incapable of doing whatever I have planned. The water is the biggest help, as I'm barely leaving the house it is in good supply so can drink as much as I want and not fear about being stuck without a toilet near-by!

The other thing, I was in my room drying from a shower today after getting up and saw the scales and just couldn't resit. So on I hopped to see where I was now at. I'm not going to spoil whatever I announce on Monday but lets just say I was very surprised with what came up. Whether that is in a good or bad way you will have to wait and see I guess.

The only downside to the 3 day idea is mind over matter. Have to let your mind know that your body is ready and capable now and not let it beat you. I am so glad I started now - as I had reservations - because with Christmas and my studying meaning it is a very focussed yet busy time of the year for me the mind is definitely not being defeated which should hold over to when my exams are done.

Also I noticed tesco sell the shakes in carton form too...about 55p a go or about the price of a can of diet coke. That was my one big worry of what I would do when going back to university in February addressed

23rd December - Calm Before the Storm

Its all been going smoothly, some would argue too smoothly. Having my 2 shakes a day and a 500 calorie meal meaning about 900 calories a day. Plenty of water and diet fizzy juice too and the sensation of hunger is not that great.

I have slipped into a good routine now which I feel works for me. At the moment it is;

Shake just before my first 3 hours of studying a day.

1 hour break here with nothing

3 more hours studying

1 or 2 hour break (depending on how I'm feeling) along with the meal

Final 3 hours studying

Shake before bed.

I'm taking the odd caffeine pill also to help stay awake. I think that's more down to the studying as 9 hours staring at books and what-not can leave you ready to collapse!

First weigh-in tomorrow, be interesting to see where I get to. If I drop 7 pounds I will be the lightest I have been in a long time as this was were I got through the healthy eating kick I mentioned in my first post. I now have this picture on the wall of myself and my wee brother from - what I can only guess - 5 or 6 years ago and the fat mess I am in it (perhaps the heaviest I have been) is more motivation to get down to where I want to be.

Tomorrow night is our usual session at the pub for Christmas Eve. I feel if I don't draw attention to the fact I'm not drinking I wont have to answer any questions as to why. So will just get the odd diet pepsi to tide me over, they will assume vodka's in it most probably. Should be fun. Christmas day I will have the family meal but no starter or desert and be careful on what I eat during the meal. Most likely cut out my morning shake to help with this too.

Lets see what happens I guess.

I admire your determination. I'm much more weak willed than you and let people and what they say get in the way. My family are overbearing and i hate interference so I take the easiest option and not do the diet or even APPEAR to be dieting around them.

Well done you .... you (and other here who have your mindset) deserve to succeed.

Take care. .. . .. . . .. .. ... . . .. . .

26th December - Happy Christmas

Well that's that done. Such a lot of build up for such a short time with relatively little to show at the end of it. What can I say, I'm not the most massive Christmas fan. I think it's good it gives families the opportunity to see each other but when it becomes a forced idea is when I dislike it.

But aye, you don't want to hear me harking on about my grievances based on the fact I study during this period so onward.

First weigh-in was Monday. 7lb down. I'm always a tad dubious with the scales as they are mechanical - old school - ones they give a better reading than the digital ones we had which seemed hell-bent on a different reading every single time. I'm happy with that loss. On the old way that could have taken 7 weeks. I know from here on it wont be as much but starting well is always good.

I did have my Christmas dinner, and I enjoyed it! Wolfed the lot down. Missed the starter and desert but scoffed a couple of choccies and a couple of crackers and cheese. One day of the year, and I was aware of doing it and made the choice to do it, not the more "eat now, regret later" idea. I also have been out 2 nights with friends drinking were I haven't had any alcohol. I really don't miss it. As soon as I shrug off the fact I'm not drinking I slide into a nice role of acting just about as stupidly as I do when drunk so it's ok. And I still woke up on Christmas day hazy on parts of the night before...I think my brain hasn't connected itself off the booze yet!

Back to studying this week - well minus going to the football tomorrow - and then New Year. That is never a drinking time for me as, if you have checked any of my signature links, I play the bagpipes and therefore usually am piping at midnight. This year - as it stands - I have no gig so it will be a quiet night in. Hopefully something comes up last minute as it is decent money for relatively little work.

I'm enjoying being half a stone lighter, a few more pounds and the stone number will be one I can't ever remember seeing. It's also amazing the difference it has on things like walking, I am able to walk much quicker now even after a week and keep it up. So hopefully this will continue, I don't see me falling off the wagon so it should be ok.

Merry Christmas to all

Well done you!!!

Enjoyed reading this diary, so I'll keep checking back to see how you are doing, so you know at least one person is looking forward to reading about your experience - so no excuses for not posting!!!