Weight Loss and 5:2 Progress

Weight Loss and 5:2 Progress – I’m sure many Community members will testify to the progress of my weight loss. I loved listening to the “I hardly recognised you” comments. With the date of the Newstead Well Being Show on four weeks away, I was in two minds whether to write and publish this article. However, there seems many are interested in the diet I felt an update is needed.

The answer to the question is this:

Weigh at the start of the diet (12.04.19) was twenty-one stones and four pounds. My weight this morning (5.08.19) is eighteen stones and two pounds. The total loss in four months – Three Stones and two pounds. So I’m into my fourth stone, and all is going as planned.

The excellent news for me is my blood sugar levels are returned to normal, and I am no longer pre-diabetic. As some of you will know pre-diabetic status is the only opportunity where the onset of type two or type one diabetes can be reversed. I do have a friend who was type two, and he lost over fourteen stones; he is now without diabetes. I am not a health professional and cannot comment on this outcome of weight loss.

What is sure is pre-diabetic status can be reversed. If you have had the symptoms of fatigue, light sweats and a ‘feeling of being out of sorts’ get the blood and urine tested. You may be in the window of opportunity to reverse the possibility of type two, followed by type one diabetes – Here is the link to the relevant information (of the difference between type one and type two diabetes).

How do I feel?

More than well: I can walk five or six miles without a problem. There is no pain in my knees while walking. No headaches, eye problems and I sleep very well indeed. There is one drawback – My old clothes do not fit me anymore, and the rapid changes in body measurements mean my fashion style will be ‘baggy’ for some months. There is little point in buying too many new clothes until I get nearer to the target weight, which is fourteen stones.

Sorry about the images! But you’ll see the progress!

There is every probability the target weight may be taken lower. The figure I’m thinking about is 80 kilograms or 12.5 stones. This amount is a further loss of six stones from the present weight. I’ll write about the reasons for this in another post, but it is a target I feel worth the effort.

Of course, I’m following the 5:2 diet. This is a semi-fasting diet of five days eating around 1600 calories and two days at 6-800. This method is not complicated: and as predicted in the information written about ‘fasting’ diets: hunger pangs are zero after ten weeks. I never feel hungry, full stop.

Over the show weekend, a lesson is learned:

During shows, there is no desire to prepare food after a sixteen-hour day. So. Liz and I eat out; I ordered a standard chicken dish and halfway through the meal I was full. There was no need to eat any more. The following evening I dined with friends and ordered the same meal and also sweet. Returning to the Hotel, I felt very uncomfortable. The situation worsened, sugar craving had set in and the choice was to buy a hot chocolate and choc bar! (no: no alcohol). The result was intense indigestion and a feeling of: well, greed.

Most important there were no issues with blood sugar symptoms, The insulin flowed, and my body coped well with the sugar hits. Incidentally, the weekend indulgence weighed a heavy price, and the scales indicated the first increase for three months. It is possible if I’d stuck to my mind’s direction (of being full) a seventeen stone and twelve-pound author would be scribing this article.

It is not the weight gain we have to account for; it is the returning to the schedule, which takes its toll. I gained two pounds over the weekend so, nearly a week of diet loss was lost. If I’d stayed to plan, I would be below eighteen stones today. There is no concern about this situation. Everyone’s weight fluctuate’s if we go over the body’s caloric burn. The 5:2 diet quickly teaches the participant about exceeding the calorific burn. And this is one lesson of today’s article.

My height is six feet two inches (1.87 metres), and the caloric burn given for my daily need calculated using the CSG network calculator is 2600 calories. It is suggested consuming calories over this number and I’ll gain weight The problem is my actual caloric burn is 1680 according to my expensive BMI scales. So, if I used the CSG calculation no weight would be lost.

During my checkup, my doctor was asked about the caloric burn. She said “Your blood sugar and blood pressure are better than could be hoped for after only three months. You are in the perfect place for your age. It seems whatever you are doing is right for your body. I have no concerns about your method; it is working for you”.

The suggestion here is this: When I keep to 1600 calories for five days and 6-800 for two days, there is a consistent weight loss. When I exceed the calorie intake, my weight increases, I can control my weight by food intake, and the control is within pounds every twenty-four hours. Not only this, my health and my feeling of wellbeing is better than I can remember: there is no doubt I will stay with this way of life.

Whatever the choice of my final weight: either eighty-five or eighty kilos. I am able to maintain the weight by eating around 1600 calories every day and enjoying an hour or two of walking. The final weight figure is a fair way off, but setting the objective now: is how the goal will be achieved and maintained in the future. Perhaps some insight into my mindset will be helpful to those who would prefer to shed a few kilos.

Everything I have achieved, all personal successes are due to setting targets and formulating clear objectives. As the mindsets into the process, the ways to achieve the goal come into view. It matters not if the desire is wealth, business success or fitness. Knowing what you want is paramount to the journey. One may consider the aspect of using both pounds and kilos when considering the diet. Also, think about the beneficial life-style changes and keep on thinking about the progress.

Consider the idea; there are thousands of people obsessed with food, television chefs, and their programs. You and I know people who regularly talk about food and meals out: the social media streams are full of bar meal pictures. My view-point is to be obsessed with weight loss for one hour a day — three twenty-minute meditations on the objective and how to achieve the goals, and maintaining the final weight. I lock the idea into my mind by reflecting on what could have happened to my health.

When entering any competitive arena, one either chooses to prefer victory or accept failure. No boxer enters the ring to be beaten; no athlete wants to be second. A good businessman seeks professional advice and works diligently to attain security. There is no difference to any objective; we learn, test, relearn retest. The ways which work we keep, the failures are left behind.

I am a competitive mind, and if the choice is to succeed, there is no let-up. When standing on the scales each morning, there is a lesson learned “Am I following the path? Or do I need to readjust the process? 

Some would be correct in saying: “The outer image is not always a reflection of the inner-being”. From my perspective, the decision is: to live, breath and think the idea of Well Being. My choice is to be a reflection of the organisation I work for and love. To succeed the requirement is to make changes, become, leaner, fitter, excel and shout out the mission. How else can I be gauged?

This writer accepts weight loss is a challenging task to manage. Not only this, the return to old weight is high-angled and black ice slippery. If there is a lesson learned so far, it is one of preparation and mental focus. The last few paragraphs are written to help those who wish to shed many stones or kilos. Information is everywhere, guides and diets are everywhere, constant application of the method is the most challenging aspect of all.

See You Soon