Week 8

New week, new toy. My son-in-law has leant me one of his cast-off Apple watches to see if it can assist in getting me fit. It does generate a lot more data than I had before (heart rate for one) and as I wear it all day, I am getting significantly more steps recorded than I do with my phone, which sits on my desk all day – time will tell if the extra data or more steps adds anything to my weight loss and general well-being.

Luckily this was week 8 and not week 1 as being a tad nimbler on my feet  than I was seven weeks ago meant I escaped hospitalisation (or worse) by a speeding Range Rover as I crossed the road on my way to work on Monday. This guy thought that when a traffic light turns red, you put your accelerator to the floor rather than your brake. I was on the opposite side of the junction, saw he had a red light, with a car in front of him turning left, so assumed it safe to cross, but as he hurtled towards me I put a spurt on to get out of his way. Seven weeks ago it would have been smack!

On Tuesday I popped into the Co-op I pass on my way to work to buy a few non-perishable things to add to the donations we are making at work to a local charity that gives out food parcels. This is only half way around the 3.5 mile route to work, so I had to walk the remaining 1.8 miles carrying two fairly heavy carrier bags. That brought up a bit of focus on my weight loss. These bags that were weighing me down, probably weighed in at 5 kilos tops. That’s less than half the weight I have lost – or double the weight I have still to lose – a sobering thought!

Wednesday was half way through week 8 and it was the first morning I set off for work with it raining (there was an earlier incident when I got wet walking to work, but it started after I left home). So I got dressed appropriately with waterproof over trousers, waterproof coat and my ‘Indiana Jones’ hat. Did an extended walk to work at 4.2 miles and arrived quite snug (& smug if I am honest). But as I walked to work I passed several school kids wearing only their blazers and I did feel a tad over-dressed, but I was warm and dry, so didn’t let it bother me too much.

On Thursday I lost an instant 1lb, by giving blood. I was assured that the liquid make up – and therefore the reversal of this instant drop – would be complete by the end of the day – so it was just a temporary loss. The downside was the clinic’s insistence that you should have a biscuit afterwards to get you blood sugar levels up, so a wee Kit-Kat was added to Thursday’s points. I travelled to Edinburgh on Thursday evening, and had my dinner on the train – I could have had a couple of complementary beers off the trolley as well, but was good and stuck with sparkling mineral water. Arriving in Edinburgh I partook of a couple of glasses of wine overdid my daily WW points and went into the weekly points.

I worked from home in Edinburgh on Friday which meant greater temptation. I did get out and about putting a few miles on the clock with RunKeeper, but again over did my daily points as I couldn’t resist the temptation of having a late lunch at Mother India’s Café on Infirmary Street. Food is so good in there, highly recommended to anybody that likes Indian food – using up more of my weekly bonus points.

Saturday was a great day for getting the miles in and did about 11 miles in Edinburgh, including a couple of circuits of the Botanic Gardens. Had a beer on the train home to Aberdeen, and a few glasses of wine when I got home, so not a good day regarding WW points– went to bed with only 5 of my weekly bonus points left intact, and we have friends coming round for Sunday lunch next day.

I stayed off the alcohol all day Sunday, but ate enough at lunch to use up all the daily points and take the weekly points into overdraft by 3 points. However on a positive note, I managed to fit into a pair of 34” waist trousers I bought several years back in the expectation that I would shrink to fit them! that’s a milestone worth recording I think.

The result is that I finished the week at 14st 10lbs. losing 12 ounces only on the week. This was despite putting in 50miles over the week, walking to work, getting out at lunchtime and at the weekend. It’s a bit disappointing, but again underlines the fact that whilst exercise is key to losing a bit of weight, it’s mainly to keep fit, not the main driver for weight loss – that’s down to reducing calorie consumption. I fear that I might be getting as low as I can in the current life-style, and further changes may have to be introduced if I am to get to my target weight of 13 stones. Anyway, fingers crossed, I may be able to report next week that I have gone sub 14st 8lbs. this is my next short-term milestone, 2 stones down on my starting weight – here’s hoping!