OP Reclaim Life

[DaddyPig]

My diary to inspire and motivate me when I feel down and want to give up. I also welcome comments and advice.

Picture the moment; you're sitting in A&E having been suffering from palpitations and dizzy spells. The cardiac sister is telling you to cut down the alcohol and caffeine and also to lose some weight.

Nothing out of the ordinary right?

Well maybe not.

BUT I am only 34 years old and have been wearing a pacemaker for the last 4 years, and this isn't the first time I've been here since having that shiny bit of metal put in my chest.

The above situation happened about 6 weeks ago. Now I have finally been given the thumbs-up by the cardio to carry on as normal I've comitted myself to shed that weight. I've easily cut down on the alcohol and caffeine, but the weight will be tough. I work shifts (when I get back to work that is) 24/7/365 and don't often get time to eat properly if at all. Even when I'm not at work I'll often totally skip food during the day and then gorge out late at night once everything is done and I can relax, eating badly balanced, over-sized meals that contain lots of fat and other rubbish, followed by snacks and junk. I seem to be able to feed the kids ok but when it comes to me I have lost my way.

So, July 12th 2012 was officially day 1 of the change in lifestyle I desperately need.

The scales are reading 15st 4lb and body fat at 27.1%. Being 6ft tall that gives me a BMI of 29. How I've changed over the last 6 years. Boooooo!!!!!!!!!


My goals:

To initially get my weight back down to 13 stone then will reassess with the ultimate target of getting my body fat % below 10.


The next few weeks are going to be full of proper meals, of decent size, and at regular times. On top of that I'm going to increase the level of exercise I already do. It won't be easy, especially starting the wrong side of the weekend.

Oh well, good luck me.

 

[DaddyPig]

DAY 1.

The start of it all. Day 1 was easy, but then I guess it was only half a day, strictly speaking. Did no exercise except walking around town doing some essential tasks and shopping (buying batteries for the scales being one of them). Must try harder.

Cereal for breakfast and fruit and crackers for lunch. Evening meal of quiche, jacket potato and salad at about 1730 (was nice to sit and eat as a family). All in all about 4 or 5 coffees today but then I only have sweeteners anyway.

Whilst I felt better during the day I felt awful late at night between 2200 and midnight. I felt so hungry, was tempted to snack but resisted.

Let's see how long this newbie determination/motivation lasts. If I can get to the magic 13 stone before I go on holiday to Scotland in October then I can at least ease up a bit that week and allow some extra holiday treats, it will also be be less weight to carry when I'm doing the mountain biking I plan to do. Average loss of 2.1lb a week? We'll see.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 2.

Remarkably easy despite the hiccup at the end of the day due to visitors coming over which had been planned before the start of the weight loss scheme.

Breakfast of fruit smoothie (pineapple, peach and orange) followed by a wake-me-up coffee 10 minutes later (made with small amount of semi-skimmed and 2x sweeteners = has been standard for many years). Mid-morning snack of a banana accompanied by a peppermint tea. Vegetable soup for lunch and water throughout the afternoon. Evening meal of thinly cut rump steak, served with salad and 4 x new potatoes. No dressings or sauces just loads of lemon juice, chopped chillis and herbs etc. Definately hit my 5 a day, more like 9 or 10, which for me is a first. Sensible sized portions and all tasted great too. Feel much better for it.

Did an hour and 5 mins of fast paced walking with my OH just before lunch. Going at her fast pace as it is her usual exercise. Didn't really feel it to be honest, barely got warmed up, nevermind breaking a sweat, my level of fitness obviously requires me to work harder than that, or I'm just used to harder workouts. Still, its better than nothing and gave me an hour with her so thats a good thing too.

So, the hiccup....
We had made plans earlier in the week to have a friend over for the evening along with her 2 children, her husband is living/working abroad and its nice to have her over. I managed to clean off a bottle of Shiraz all on my own. I also baked up a whole Camembert cheese which I served with toasted Ciabatta bread and was shared between us all. Still, it was a good evening, and on the whole I think the day has been a success.

Lessons learned so far....
When I'm feeling hungry, I find that doing exercise/chores/something physical gets rid of the feelings of emptiness. Its strange because I don't feel hungry if I skip breakfast AND lunch, yet if i eat in the morning I feel very hungry a short while later.
Water is not that boring really. Well, ok, yes it is, but I must continue to convince myself otherwise.
Smoothies are so easy to make, cheap fruit offers at Aldi make it all so cheap too. Cannot believe I have not been having them before.

How do I feel? I feel much more energised and invigorated for eating the fresh fruit/veg and this is only day 1. I am still motivated to do this. I am enjoying the change in eating habits/lifestyle so far and cannot wait to start seeing the results in the coming weeks/months.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 3.

Getting into the groove now. I'm managing to eat at regular times and I'm eating smarter. Feeling great despite having been woken up several times during the night.

Breakfast was a very [un]exciting bowl of 2 Weetabix (other brand copy of them anyway - much cheaper) with small amount of skimmed milk and a chopped banana. Smoothie was made with pineapple and banana, orange juice and a very small amount of milk to give a milky look; the kids weren't impressed by the smoothie yesterday but add a small amount of milk and tell them its a milkshake and they ask for more

Mid morning coffee but no snack.

Lunch was homemade soup, tomato and mixed vegetable, yuuummmmm!!!!!! Extra made to cover tomorrow too.

Evening meal was a celebratory indian takeaway so to eat smarter I dropped the chips completely and shared a rice and garlic naan. A beautiful meal that I felt I enjoyed more by ditching 75% of the extras I usually have. No bloated feeling after.

Treated myself to a snack after of a handful of dried fruit and seeds.....Thats how to go mad on a Saturday night.

No time for exercise today as too busy taking kids to swimming lessons, shopping and wasting time at a gardening show. Also spent too long sitting in the back garden next to the pond checking on the Koi.

Oh well, a successful day despite the lack of exercise.

Can't wait to see what the scales will say next week.

 

[porkscratching]

Hi - well done on doing so well and being so motivated. The weight will drop off - just one thing - I thought smoothies were a great idea but while they are a handy way to get your 5 a day in - the whole fruit is so much more filling, less calorific and you wont have the same insulin spikes you will with the smoothie. Just a thought if you are getting the evening hunger pangs - that one smoothie equals a portion of slimming world curry or a big jacket potato and salad .

 

[DaddyPig]

Hi - well done on doing so well and being so motivated. The weight will drop off - just one thing - I thought smoothies were a great idea but while they are a handy way to get your 5 a day in - the whole fruit is so much more filling, less calorific and you wont have the same insulin spikes you will with the smoothie. Just a thought if you are getting the evening hunger pangs - that one smoothie equals a portion of slimming world curry or a big jacket potato and salad .

Thank you.
Re: the smoothies, do you mean home made or shop bought ones? I make my own smoothies using pure fruit juice and whole fruit and a hand blender. For example, 200-250ml pure orange juice, a banana, 1/3 pineapple and a peach with stone removed. Nothing else added, no tinned fruit, just blended smooth and drunk immediately. The milk added on day 3 was a one off to see what the kids would make of it. I find this will be fine for 2 portions. I can understand why shop bought ones aren't that great but homemade? Interesting. I'll have to look into that.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 4.

Well, day 4 was pretty much the same as day 3, just a few differences. The kids had drunk all the fruit juice before I got to the fridge so there was no smoothie on day 4. Lunch was the remainder of yesterday's batch of soup. Evening meal was a roast chicken dinner, small portion as usual because when it comes to roast dinner I simply can't stand the things. No snacking at all during the day and again only one coffee.

No real excuse for the lack of exercise today, although I was busy with lots of things I'm sure I could have found an hour to go cycling or something. Nevermind though, its Monday tomorrow and the real exercise begins now the weekend is out of the way.

Found some more motivation today, straight from my 10 year old daughter who found it funny to tease me about my belly.

 

[DaddyPig]

Calories......

Never having been one to count calories, and spurred on by a browse of this forum, I thought I'd see how many calories were in this new daily diet.
Where possible calorie figures are taken fromthe packet that the product comes from, otherwise its from an old book or Google. All figures are from estimated weights uncooked.

Breakfast of 2 x supermarket own brand Weetabix, 100ml (though usually less) skimmed milk and a banana = 312 cals.
Mid-morning smoothie of 200ml orange juice, banana, 1/3 pineapple and a peach. 354 cals, but thats enough for 2 servings so = 177 cals.
Homemade soup for lunch using various vegetables and veg stock = 85 cals per serving.
Mug of coffee = 14 cals.

Those above are the usual daily meals excluding evening meal, since the start of this anyway, and although the contents may vary, ie variations on fruits put into the smoothie or soup, then this comes in at 588 calories. This is quite a calorie deficit, even with the 2 bananas which account for almost half of the calories here. On the other hand it gives me a lot to play with come the evening meal.

Anyway, like I started off by saying, I've never been one for counting calories so this is quite alien, also quite interesting. The idea of the change in diet was to eat better overall; more regular meals, less fat, less junk, etc. The fat content is tiny compared to before and the salt levels very low. Also, the fruit/veg composition much better which is better for all round health and wellbeing.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 5.

A pretty rubbish day all round. I spent most of the day indoors, pottering around the house waiting for a phone call which never came . Still, it gave me plenty of time to make up a new batch of soup, do the house chores, but most usefully also to research the varying nutrtion benefits of different fruit and veg. Oh and I did some calorie counting too which showed I'm running a very low cal diet.

Daytime food was exactly as day 4. Evening meal was a little bit of fish, a little bit of lamb, vegetable rice and salad. Everyone else had key lime pie and chocolate ice cream to follow, I had no problems dishing it up for them and watching them eat it, I didn't fancy it for one second. Food cravings have changed dramtically in just 5 days, and what I do eat tastes better too.

Managed to get out of the house eventually, and went for an evening bike ride. Picked a route of 5 miles that included a number of steep uphill sections and took just under 20 minutes. I'd have like to have stayed out longer but simply didn't have time so late in the day. It looks like I'll be back at work from tomorrow so at least I can start cycling to work again, 8 miles each way, though I won't be able to do that until next set of shifts.

What I learnt today....
I have been discouraged you may say (both here and elsewhere on the board) from using fruit juice in my smoothies dues to the fact that its not as good as using the whole fruit. Now it comes as no surprise really, but I am struggling to understand why people think that it makes it bad for you as opposed to 'not as good for you if you were using whole fruit'. Anyway, forgetting that, I looked into alternatives and think I may tweek my smoothie recipies. I had been using fruit which I liked the taste of and are easy/cheap to buy. Compared to what I was eating before even this is vast improvement. Now having researched the benefits I could really maximise the content of these smoothies. Calcium, Vit C, potassium, dopamine, metabolism boosters.... they've got 'em all, just some more than others. So I'm thinking, how about a smoothie of strawberry, kiwi fruit, broccoli and chilli pepper? May need a shot of green tea in there too so to add some liquid texture. Its worth looking into more.

 

[DaddyPig]

I'm back at work now, and boy have I been busy...time for an update.


Day 6.

So Day 6 was was spent with my wife, she had most of the day off so we went shopping and stuff. Quite an active morning going here and there but managed to get my meals in, breakfast was weetabix with skimmed milk. Lunch was soup. Evening meal was chicken and mushroom risotto, homemmade and using up some bits left leftover in the fridge.
5 1/2 miles cycling in the evening and some free-weights works.

Day 7.

First day at work. A proper challenge to get the food right today. In fact I think I failed. Green tea and weetabix for breakfast. Mid-morning banana snack. Did not get time for lunch. Had my soup as soon as I got home at 3:20. Evening meal of meatballs and spaghetti.
6 1/4 miles cycling.

Day 8.

Weigh day. Ok, so I'd been weighing frequently during week 1 to check i was doing things right, so it came as no surprise, but I'm pleased to say that weigh in came at 14st 9lb. A whopping 9lb loss. Very, very happy. I know week 1 is always a heavy hitter and will start to slow down but things are going in the right direction.
Breakfast was a rush today. Full return to work and running slightly late. Weetabix for breakfast. No mid morning fruit as planned but soup for lunch. Evening meal of homemade curry and a small naan bread, no rice. Had a smoothie later using yoghurt instead of juice as a celebration.

At the end of week one I feel I need to increase my water intake, whilst at work anyway. And shift work is going to hammer the meal plans.

Oh well, keep at it, the initial results are great.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 9.

I knew shifts would make hard work of trying to stick to a regular meal plan.

Late shift meant a bit of a lie in; phase shift the whole meal plan back by 4 to 5 hours. Got up at midday and had 2 weetabix. A nasty smoothie of fruit AND veg at about 1530/1600 before work. I was aiming for an evening meal of homemade bolognaise and tagliatelle at around 2200 but work was chaotic, + short staffed meant trying to fit in a meal which I eventually got at about 0130. Even then it was whilst trying to work on the computer and do paperwork, not good to at like that. I got home about 0330 and thats when I fell foul to temptation. After such a mad night my brain was frazzled, and thought what the hell, I succumbed to 2 pieces of cold garlic bread (leftover's from the rest of the family's meal) and a small vodka/lemonade. Justified it to myself that it's the weekend and I deserve a treat after that shift, nevermind the lack of treats all week.

So things aren't going bad really. Even a small diversion was not much to worry about. What is a worry though is that I've still got another late and then onto nights, and one of those nights is catered and I'm not allowed to take my own food or drink. I've been told that it will most likely be packed lunch provided :sigh:, and I've been doing really well in trying to cut down the amount of bread I am eating. Mayonaise filled sandwiches, chocolate bars and crisps do not fit into my plan. Do I settle for eating rubbish or starve? Not looking forward to that shift at all. It was bad enough knowing I was going to have to cut out the energy drinks and Haribos, but this on top....

Good news is that I can see a difference in the mirror, can feel it too. I'm not going to weigh myself again so much now and try and wait and surprise myself next Thursday.

 

[DaddyPig]

*Oh, and now I've added a ticker too for a bit of fun.

 

[Mini]

Well done on your weight loss, ticker is looking good:happy096:

What is a worry though is that I've still got another late and then onto nights, and one of those nights is catered and I'm not allowed to take my own food or drink. I've been told that it will most likely be packed lunch provided :sigh:, and I've been doing really well in trying to cut down the amount of bread I am eating. Mayonaise filled sandwiches, chocolate bars and crisps do not fit into my plan. Do I settle for eating rubbish or starve? Not looking forward to that shift at all. It was bad enough knowing I was going to have to cut out the energy drinks and Haribos, but this on top....

If you are being good for the whole week one night off plan is not going to make that much difference and probably better for you to eat as it is not good to starve yourself as that will most lightly cause you to binge later on...you probably would be better off sticking with your sandwiches and tea/coffee and make sure you are drinking enough water... stay away from sugary drinks. If there is far too much Mayo scrape some off with a knife and if you have a choice of wholemeal go for it.

Soups and stews are very good at filling you up and keep you going so it might be worth having if you have some left over from the day before, before heading off to your night shifts instead of a light breakfast.

I have been discouraged you may say (both here and elsewhere on the board) from using fruit juice in my smoothies dues to the fact that its not as good as using the whole fruit. Now it comes as no surprise really, but I am struggling to understand why people think that it makes it bad for you as opposed to 'not as good for you if you were using whole fruit'.

The reason whole fruit is better for you is that you get most of the vitamin C content and fibre. All fruit and vegetable have a "bio-synergy", which means the nutritional benefits of each part are reinforced by the others and you will find besides getting all the goodness that they are more filling when you eat them whole...when you make them into a smoothie it makes them easier to drink more than you need and on top you get a lot of unwanted calories and probably far too much sugar which will spike your blood sugar levels and give you cravings later on as well as making you feel tired.

If you have a look at Pete's Recipe Book over in the Slimming World Forum here you will get some great ideas for meals and portion sizes for men and loads of good advice...

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world-recipes/250434-petes-recipe-book.html

So very glad to hear you are on the mend after being in hospital...My sister has been pacemaker dependent since her late twenties...she is in her late forties now and keeps her weight down by watching her carb intake and walking.

Keep up the good work

 

[DaddyPig]

Thank you for the reply Mini. That link is great, just had a quick look and there's some good recipe ideas there. I'm also starting to understand the smoothie issues now.
Its great that you sister is doing well with her pacemaker. I have found that there is very little support for younger people with heart conditions over the past few years. It is slowly getting better, but it still seems that there is only support if you are old, or retired, and have had a heart attack. Nothing really for younger people, working families, etc...

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 10.

Another late shift and another messed up meal plan. I ate what I wanted to it was just the last meal of bolognaise (again) was eaten at around 2am whilst working on the computer. Friday and Saturday late shifts will always be like this, I'm just glad its not every week. I did succumb to another treat at work though, a single piece of Cadbury's chocolate coated toffee popcorn, lol, OMG I've never been into chocolate much but that was heaven, and a great morale lifter.

Obviously I write this the next day. It is currently late afternoon on Sunday and I am getting ready for THAT night shift tonight. The weather is lovely and sunny, quite a change from the last month or so, and the kids are playing outside and everyone's got that happy summer feeling. I woke up about 1430 and the first thing in my head was proper fish and chips.... I realised that I haven't had chips in 2 weeks and I smiled at my progress. In the bathroom I caught glimpse of my belly in the mirror and i can see the difference, its not massively different but I can notice it. I think I actually feel lighter aswell. An hour later and I'm still thinking of that battered fish and chip shop chips, maybe even sitting by the river in the sun eating them with a cold bottle of water, yummy. At that point I come up with my first weight-loss reward to myself.... when I hit 14 st (a loss of 1st 4lbs) i am going to treat myself to mini fish and cone of chips from the chippy next to the river.

As for tonight I'm wandering what to do. I've avoided bread so well. Turns out my wife is cooking a roast dinner before I go so will be able to bulk up on potato and veg before I go. And, lets see what the first night shift without energy drinks and Haribo is like.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 11.

Not a good day. Started off by having a light roast dinner an hour or so after getting up. Tasted remarkably good, especially as I hate roasts. Had some fruit just before I left for work then I was in for that awful catered night. The provided packed lunch (of which we had no alternate option) was a mix of sugar and pastry. I ended binning most of it, but had a white roll with cheese/pickle, apple and after getting so hungry had the crisps too. I had avoided the no added sugar orange Tango until I read the ingredients and nutriton values, zero fat and sugar, and only 3 cal per 100ml, meant the whole can weighed in at 10 cals which was less than the coffee so I had it. The donut came in handy to give to one of the staff there who would not shut up - eating that with a free cup of tea kept him quiet and me sane for 5 mins . The chocy bar was put in my pocket to give the kids when I got home, besides it has a competition to win a full tank of fuel and with the price of that nowadays.....
So all in all not a very good day. The roast was fine but the rest....yuk!....and not the sort of junk you want to get you through the night.

Day 12.

Another night shift and another bounced meal plan. Sausage/mash, fruit later and then beef, egg and salad during the night. Much better balance than Day 11.
Got some days off now so can get back to it. And hope to get some decent exercise in before Thursday.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 13.

So unbelievably tired having finished nights. It took all my effort to just get up and walk around. Snappy, irritable and grumpy...that is until late evening when body clock means you're wide awake . So, no exercise today, going to have to make up for it on Day 14.

Food wise I'm really settled now. The weetabix, skimmed milk, fruit, etc are the norm now, and cravings for unhealthy snacks have pretty much disappeared. Had a lovely lamb steak (minted) cooked on the bbq last night, served up with salad.

Don't have much else to say about the day. Tiredness meant it all passed in a blur really. Hoping for a better one tomorrow.

 

[DaddyPig]

Day 14.

Its safe to say that day 14 did not go as planned, my early wake up didn't happen and I stayed in bed until 11am . At least I'd got over the night shifts. Small bowl of Maple & Pecan crunch as a change from the weetabix. Made up a new batch of soup for lunches and had a beef/veg stirfry for evening meal. Snacked on an apple about 1900.

Had a plan to go cycling after 2000 but that had to be cancelled when youngest daughter managed to catch me in the eye with her fingernail. The next few hours were spent in agony, painkillers and vodka weren't working and when I couldn't take anymore I went to A&E. Turns out I've scratched about 1/3 of my cornea, which acounts for the pain and inability to open my eye properly. . It may well be no exercise for a week, or at least until I can hold my eye open. Gutted. Not only had I planned the ride but the next 2 day's exercise aswell. On top of that I was awake all night near enough so I'm back to square one tiredness wise.

 

[paul1989]

Not heard from you in while. How you getting on and is your eye better?