As you know I had my week 20 weigh in last night and my last weigh in of full abstinence. Well the old chestnut happened. Was worrying for nothing again and lost 4lbs. That takes me to a total loss of 109lbs or 7 stone and 11lbs in 20 weeks. Fricking amazing. But, before I go into that, you all know what time it is…. STAT ATTACK!
Starting stats.
- Weight 305lbs (21 stone 11lbs)
- BMI 41.4
- Body fat 40 something %
Measurements (inches)
- Chest 51
- Waist 55
- Hips 54
Current stats
- Weight 196lbs (14 stone)
- BMI 26.6
- Body Fat 22%
Measurements (inches)
- Chest 41
- Waist 39
- Hips 43
These stats shock me to the core to be honest. I started this plan on the 27th of August! Less than 5 months ago! W T F? Anywho, measurements are a real eye opener. I’ve lost a staggering 37 inches in total. 10 from my chest, 16 from my waist and 11 from my hips. I’m wearing a size large top quite comfortably now and the 36inch trousers almost need a belt. I can’t believe I’m almost 8 stone lighter than I was in August. It’s almost too good to be true. I mean, I allowed myself to dream of this sort of loss but I gotta be honest, I didn’t think I’d come this far. This will power and determination has come from somewhere. I guess I always had it but was channelling it into the wrong things. Like how many pints I could drink lol. My LLC asked me to stick around fro the group last night as apparently I have a lot of wisdom to share (her words not mine). There were some new starters there so between photos, sorting forms out, watching a DVD etc there wasn’t much of a ‘session’ anyway. I did have my end of abstinence photos taken last night too and I’ve asked my counsellor to email me all the pics she has. I’ll post em on here when I get em. My LLC also gave me the ‘My Story’ form to fill out and send to lighterlife for inclusion into the lighterlife magazine. How funny would it be if I got in it! So, my last day of abstinence had a memorable ending. I got home to make my shake and had a slight er…..blender malfunction. The chocolate shake/coffee concoction went everywhere. Let’s just say I was checking the ceiling at one point lol. So, that’s it, abstinence over. Now comes the hard part………..
Today is the first day of the Lighterlife Route to Management plan. It’s a 12 week plan designed to help you reintroduce certain types of food at different times. I guess this is also designed to slowly speed up the metabolism and calorie intake. I’m still having food packs but not so many and the cost has started coming down from the £66 a week I was paying during foundation/development phase. The structure/cost is as follows….
Week 1-2 – 3 food packs a day £49.50
Week 3-8 – 2 food packs a day £33
Week 9-12 1 food pack a day £16.50
After all this is over you can still attend the group regularly for support etc for as long as you like for no charge. My LLC really believes in this as she’s had people coming back who have successfully maintained for quite some time only to lose their way when they stop attending the group. At least once a month was suggested. I’m getting way ahead of myself though.
So week one. How does it work? Well, for the first two days of RTM nothing much changes. Oh yeah, apart from EATING FOOD! As I’ve done 20 whole weeks without eating ANYTHING the first couple of days are actually very limited. I have my 3 food packs as usual but replace the 4th with a portion of protein only. There’s a list of week 1 friendly protein in the book but I’ve chosen to base my first week around Chicken, Salmon, tinned tuna and Cottage cheese. The order of the day tonight is poached chicken breast. I’m excited. About poached Chicken lol. Then tomorrow I’m gonna go for a steamed Salmon fillet. From day 3 of week one it gets a bit more interesting with the introduction of limited salad/veggies and dressings. After much consideration I’ve decided that keeping things simple for the first week or two is the way forward. As a result I’m focusing on portion control first and foremost. From day 3 I’m going to add some mixed baby leaf to my protein portion with maybe a few drops of lemon juice. I figure just cos I’m allowed some other stuff that doesn’t mean I HAVE to have it in week one. Once the foods are on the list, they don’t go away. I think it’s far more important to get used to the actual process and routine of eating a meal and getting the size right than variety. Let’s face it, any food is variety at the moment. Week 2 adds some more foods to the list but I’ll go through that at the time. So my first two days of RTM sound like a bit of an anti climax but it’s a necessary slow start to an essential process. I’m certainly going to face some significant challenges with this. Come week 5 an awful lot of stuff is in involving cooking, alcohol etc but I need to take each day/week as it comes.
So what’s the deal on the weight front when it comes to RTM? I’ve read conflicting reports. Some say the intention is to finish RTM at the same weight you started it. In theory, I’ll still be in ketosis for the first couple of weeks and should drop more weight (and hit 8 stone lost!) but that will be balanced out by some gains in the later weeks (when your glycogen stores start filling up). Some other say you will eventually put on what you lost in the first week (11lbs in my case). I guess I’ll just have to see how it goes and talk any losses/gains through with my counsellor. I’m certainly not looking forward to my first gain but I have a couple of weeks to get used to the fact that the gains are coming. This is why I decided to do those two extra weeks of abstinence. I’m around half a stone under where I want to maintain. If I can stay here then great but if I put a few lbs on, I’m still at target. The overriding point is that it’s in my hands. I have all the info. I’ve bought the calorie books, portion pots, running machine etc. I know the theory. It’s time for the practice.
G
P.S. Look out for me posting much more regularly during RTM. I’m gonna need to get my thoughts/experiences down as often as I can. This really is just the start!
I feel like chicken tonight………like chicken tonight………..CHICKEN TONIGHT!!!!!
