summer 2021 weight loss and 33lbs down 👍

In May when I decided I had to lose weight it was to get ready for a pending operation under general anesthetic. As I'm on the waiting list, I could be called up at any time so I feel the pressure is on. Since 7th May (now 20th July) I'm down by 34lbs!! That's 15.4 bags of sugar!! (If 1kg bag of sugar = 2.2lbs!). Wow! I feel so much lighter and fitter already yet my weight is now actually where most people would probably be starting! 

I've used eating in a calorie deficit and exercise so far but feel I need to push myself further this week to continue at any satisfying pace. I've been watching YouTube for inspiration. Do check out LouisesJourneyxo on YouTube, she is a true inspiration and has lots of helpful advice and encouragement. See below for her MyFitnessPal advice.

search: https://youtu.be/QZodbrWgq_k

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I've also been completing HIIT workouts at home 3 times a week using Joe Wicks' YouTube tutorials. When I started I could barely keep up with the low impact version of the HIIT workout below - Train with India. Now I can actually complete 8/10 of the harder options and I'm usually still going with the exercises when the timer has stopped for that rep!! That's only taken about 5 weeks. 

search: https://youtu.be/Six8m4Jm6JA

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I've continued with the weekly beach bootcamp 👍 I prefer to do the exercises on the sand to the pebbles but its all done my fitness the world of good. Again I could hardly keep up when I started but now can complete most of what is presented, even if sometimes I don't manage all of a 3rd reps or have to take an easier version for some exercises. The body weight reps are exhausting! I'm proud to say I can now hold my planks for x3 30 second reps and I can almost lift a side plank for more than 2 cm off the ground 🤣

My body fat is now approximately 57% , unfortunately I didn't calculate it at the start. I calculated my current body fat using my neck, hip and waist measurements using the U.S Navy Method. Calculator.net indicates that an ideal body fat for my age = 22.9%. 

This week I've reactivated MyFitnessPal app to track my calories next week. Payday treat this month will hopefully mean some Fitbit Aria Air Scales and some new kitchen scales so that I can accurately calculate my daily calories - whatever works right....? 

Let's hope for another good week next week 🤞 

Wet suits and getting somewhere... maybe? BMI success!! June 2021

17.7lbs down and this weekend saw me fitting into a wetsuit for a water assault course! I never ever thought that either of those things would be happening. I was so worried I had phoned the Aqua Park beforehand to check they'd have a wetsuit that I'd fit in. I gave my height + weight and they seemed pretty confident that it wouldn't be a problem at all and assured me it would fine. Actually when I was there I didn't need anything other than what was already there on the wetsuit hooks. The buoyancy aid however they did find a 'bigger' one for me but to be honest it was way too big for me and when I was swimming it rode up to my ears. I would have been fine with the original one they'd given me, they just don't make buoyancy vests for women with big boobs. They just don't! When I started this blog I described myself as a mum of two babies. They aren't babies anymore and I really don't want to be the can't do mum. When my daughter is saying I should go on the slide I knew I had to do it. Climbing was so difficult under the weight of the equipment and under my own body weight. I had to pull 286 lbs up a very high inflatable climbing frame with rungs so far apart I could hardly lift my leg that heigh - I got to the top (eventually) and then at the top of the very high tower I  had to muster enough courage to go down the slide, and I did. After alot of swimming and effort I completed my hour aqua assault course and all the kids had a fabulous time, which was of course the main purpose of going there in the first place

I have 90lbs still to go! I don't know why I set myself such an ambitious goal... Well I do; Its the weight I was some time ago and I'm an unapologetic perfectionist so crazy end goals do in fact motivate me. 

Second week into my HITT boot camp and typically I've been invited to a job interview just at my boot camp time! Well, old me would have just missed a week, new me has found a pay-as-go session on a different morning, which I'm just going to fit in! I've got to. If I need to be losing 1-2lbs a week then I need to be doing something to a) counteract all sitting down for virtual / laptop working that I do during a working day b) burn all these lbs off! So a £5 HITT at the rec on Thursday morning is booked! 

BMI

Last month I had a bit of a difficult conversation with a consultant. I'm on the waiting list for wisdom tooth extraction under General anesthetic. He asked door my BMI and I did know what it was because I had worked it out for my work covid risk assessment. My BMI on 7th May was ...... 45.6. He politely said the anesthetist would probably phone me in a panic but not to worry and that everything would be fine. I don't know what came over me, probably because I work for the NHS and wanted to say "I'm not fat because I'm stupid and it's all gone a bit wrong", I suddenly tried to explain to him that all the virtual/ laptop working had meant I sat for long hours with little exercise and I'd completed a weight management course and seen a helath coach, oh my goodness, why, oh why was I explaining myself. I think I was just embarrassed. Since that appointment last month I have been so focused on my weightless goal. I dont want to die on an operating table because of my weight. Today my BMI is down to 42.7 (remember it needs to be below 30). 

I inadvertently set myself a stretch goal last week to start liking myself in photos again. I took the wetsuit pic, was brave and uploaded to facebook! Very, very unlike me. I'm just going to keep taking photos until I'm ok with it. I'm realising that these goals that I'm making are made for me to smash down hard. Last week flew past, it really did! Here's to another week of healthy eating, exercise and weight loss 🤞