I am 6'3" and currently weigh 132kg and not happy at all. I want to lose 40kg. I'm currently totally addicted to sugar I know I just need to stop that. I also, over the past few years have increased my use of delivery food to it being beyond a joke. I order so much food it's crazy. I am a couch potato, lazy as hell. I do work sometimes, not at home. I haven't ever really got the "buzz" from exercising.



I have to buy most clothes online as I don't fit into what they have in shops. I think this has been a strong reality check of where I am and where I want to be.



The last time I went about losing weight I put the mindset of avoiding carbs. I was eating lots of meat/fish and veg and let myself be hungry. I was working a job that with the journey and some extra effort I was generally doing 10,000 steps a day.



It was working. I can't find the figures but I feel like I lost 15kg. I was still not close to a healthy weight (but much better than I am now.) This was over a 3 month period. I think what the demise of that period was I was counting calories and started eating things that kept me within my 1800 a day (or whatever I was aiming for) but started the sugar again, perhaps a small packet of sweets or a chocolate, or a frozen pizza "hey its only 900 calories I can eat less _________"



These small packets increased in size and the frequency of carb foods also, and at some point I was off the wagon.


I need to start again. I don't know where to. I'm depressed in general and eating rubbish is comforting. I don't like feeling hungry. Carbs are quick, easy, cheap, filling. I like carbs.


It all feels so daunting to give up the food I have become accustomed to ordering via an app and having it within 30 minutes; turkish, greek, indian, pizza, mcdonalds... The list goes on. I know the amount of money I spend is also crazy but I don't think about it.

Pretty deep stuff and well done for sharing. It'll be really tough for you as you are physically addicted to food by the sound of it. Might sound OTT but you potentially need some serious help such as weight loss counselling if you're going to be able to succeed long term.

I'm pretty good at this weight loss stuff but in your case it doesn't sound as simple as just saying "well stop eating then".......

Very best of luck with this. You've done the first bit by opening up, now for the hard bit......

That's the one didn't realise it was that long since it was lasted used!  Five years.  I didn't search that far back.

It all kind of migrated to the Blonde will make strong thread which was just general fitness.

That one's gone very stale now as well with only a few very rare posts. Shame really, I always enjoy the updates there.

Weighed in at 14 5 4 this morning which is actually lighter than I expected.

My weight really moves a lot depending on how much I watch what I eat.

Record high is about 19st when I was 19.

Until 2019 it probably hovered around 15st.

In both 2019 and 2021 managed to get just under 13st.

Target as per those two years for me is 12st 7lb.

Will break it down into monthly targets though so 31st of Jan is to see a 13 back on the scales..... at the start.

Will be weighing in daily as before, recording on a graph with a 7 day average and will share on here weekly.

All about watching the calories for me, as I wont be introducing much if any exercise.

Lets go!

Soup and whiskey diet again?

Pretty sure I had a companion seat thing for re-triggering Gold, but can't find it anywhere. Do they expire? (even with Covid etc?)

I suppose answering my own question here and gonna have to proceed with the "ring Wales for help" tip.

I have also used Seat Spy in the past and found it really handy.

You get 24 months from the date you earned the reward to use it.

'Use it' means book a flight and take the outbound leg according to the website so not certain Simon's rollover method would work?

OHP is 3x8 at 60 though which is a lifetime PB.

Gave these a go this morning for the first time since March 2020 after being inspired by your efforts.

Friday is legs, shoulders and arms so it fits in nicely as a shoulder/triceps combo if I use a nice narrow grip.

Did 3 x 10 at 40kg and can honestly say it was very taxing. Going to try to work up slowly to something in the region of 3 x 10 at 60kg but after today I'm not too sure.....

Pressing is as strong as ever and my triceps in particular are really good at the moment so hopefully I'm in with a chance of hitting something half decent.

Challenge is on.

These are something I don't do much as always feel weak doing them and they pull on my lower back,  I used to get 65kg for 10 reps years ago.
Had a go to see where i'm at, 2nd set of 10 at 40k, I could only manage 7. Took a longer rest and tried 45kg Managed to get 10 reps, though my back wasn't happy. Gonna see if I can get back to 65kg.

Diet poor at mo, but just came back from hols in the States. Birthday next week them obv crimbo. Just gonna concentrate on lifting for rest of year and add in cleaning the diet sometime between xmas and new year.

I have lower back issues too so I always wear a belt when I'm doing OHP. Might be worth a try if you have one. It's a full body movement so bracing is essential to make sure you have a solid base to press from, any weak link will be exposed as soon as you have any kind of decent weight on the bar. For me it's always been my core that holds me back, pressing strength is good but I lose some stability and it's all downhill from there.

I had another go on Friday and got up to 50kg for a set of 8 that felt okay, just going to keep going at these and see how it develops over the next few months with DB press one session and OHP the other.

Benching on Saturday was fantastic. Managed to hit 130kg for 5 paused reps which is a PR. Felt really good as well. The mix of paused and normal benching seems to be paying dividends at the moment. Long way to go to 1RM time but it already feels very positive.

Happy birthday for next week

OHP is 3x8 at 60 though which is a lifetime PB.

Gave these a go this morning for the first time since March 2020 after being inspired by your efforts.

Friday is legs, shoulders and arms so it fits in nicely as a shoulder/triceps combo if I use a nice narrow grip.

Did 3 x 10 at 40kg and can honestly say it was very taxing. Going to try to work up slowly to something in the region of 3 x 10 at 60kg but after today I'm not too sure.....

Pressing is as strong as ever and my triceps in particular are really good at the moment so hopefully I'm in with a chance of hitting something half decent.

Challenge is on.

All going quite nicely for me at the moment. Weighing in around 101kg which I'm comfortable at and don't need to put in any effort to maintain. Don't want to drop below 100kg but I can't imagine that happening. If it does then I'll be back on the peanut butter.....

Training is going well, pretty much given up on squats and deadlifts so I've not had any real injuries for ages. Few niggles here and there which physio sorts but nothing that has kept me out of the gym.

Currently on 5 sessions per week in total which includes benching 3 times per week.

Heavily focussed on pressing and still running the same 16 weeks programme which has worked well in the past. On top of the programme which I do with my mate on a Saturday I do a light volume day on Monday which is 3 sets of 8 to 10 and then a heavier strength day on Wednesday which is 3 sets of 4 to 6. When I get towards PR time again I'll drop the reps a bit.

All benching on Saturday is paused but the other two sessions are normal which helps move a bit more weight and hopefully work a bit more hypertrophy.

Max attempt a few weeks ago was annoying.... Missed 150kg just but then got 147.5kg which is a new PR, paused PR......

Currently in a light block for the programme but still hitting decent numbers. 110kg for 10, 125kg for 6 and 127.5kg for 4 all paused

Hit 115kg for 10 (no pause) on Monday and 125kg for 6 on Wednesday which felt great.

Incline DBs are up to 7 reps for the 50s. These are really tough but they're after heavy benching so no surprise. DB shoulder press sticking to 36kg but getting 3 x 10 quite comfortably. I'm scared to go any heavier on these in case I pop my shoulder so will stick to the volume work.

Getting in plenty of other accessory work and just generally loving it. If I sort my sleep out I'd be unstoppable 

[ncluding using miles to go economy and upgrade into PE using credit card voucher (dunno if they still do this, I stopped getting emails from them)]

I am always gunning for UC because I still believe that to be the pick of the way to use points, but there are good alternatives, including using miles to go economy and upgrade into PE using credit card voucher (dunno if they still do this, I stopped getting emails from them)

This is how Stu and I got our latest UC seats.

With a Virgin Atlantic reward+ card which costs £160 per year you get a free companion seat or cabin upgrade annually as long as you spend £10k.

Thanks to not being able to fly for two years I had two rewards so used one to upgrade myself from PE to UC then another for a UC companion seat which cost 50% points

Overall it was about 130k miles plus the two rewards for 2 x UC return plus taxes of course

You also earn tier points on reward seats now although I'm not sure if they will be of benefit. From what I can see the main applicable benefit for the likes of us is that you can use a companion seat for UC for no points rather than the 50%.

You need to have taken 4 UC flights to get to silver tier though so it takes a lot of trips given that the points reset annually.

Was moved to write to my MP today and explain how he'd lost my vote.

Drifting left on so many 'woke' issues while doing nothing meaningful in areas that matter to people's quality of life in areas like social care, benefits levels for those in need

Drifting right on rhetoric around illegal immigration while doing nothing meaningful to resolve the issue at source, improve systems, help people in need in a controlled way etc

Latest abso bollocks to wear a mask in shops - just performative shite - am I really more likely to contract covid in a shop than sat in a pub or busy restaurant. Fkn morons (didn't say that in my letter)

He's lucky my vote isn't a six pointer as no way I can vote for any of the other parties either, we don't even tend to get any jokey candidates so limited options there too.

Explained I didn't need a response but felt he should know directly, rather than via polls, that he has definitely lost at least one vote thanks to the abso stream of shite emanating from his party and that being the least worse option wasn't enough to get me to vote for them

Completely agree with most of this but not on the masks.

You're obviously correct about the likelihood of contracting anything but I think it's more to do with personal choice in scenarios where they've made masks compulsory again.

Pubs are personal choice, you can go to them or not and if you're vulnerable you can choose to lessen your personal risk by staying away.

Public transport and shops are essential for many so I think mask wearing is a good thing.

I don't think wearing a mask is going to save my life but if makes some old dear feel more a bit more comfortable sat near me on the bus or walking past me in Lidl then I'm all for it.

Where they completely f**ked up was getting rid of mandatory mask wearing in the first place. If they'd kept them in place all along for shops and public transport nobody would've batted an eye lid. Now I'll be amazed if more than 25% of people bother with them.

Fucking gutted that someone found this.

I was all for putting the link on the "whatever happened to" thread but the giraffe loving tory persuaded me not to.

Feels like a missed opportunity

Thanks for the updates mate, enjoyed following as always.

How long you there for? Me and Stu arrive Monday afternoon so could possible have a few beers?

Thanks everyone, been fun, even though disappointing.

I'm in Rozvadov Wednesday (24th) til 'Monday 4th. Does that overlap at all, EvilPie?

Might do mate. We arrive on the 22nd in the afternoon so depends when you leave Vegas.....

You still got the same number from 6 years ago?......

Thanks for the updates mate, enjoyed following as always.

How long you there for? Me and Stu arrive Monday afternoon so could possible have a few beers?

Some of you may remember a while back I was lamenting having to buy 36-inch waist trousers after my weight had ballooned to 13-stone+.

Today I finally achieved my target weight of 11st 7lbs 

I think about it regularly mate believe it or not. Congratulations on the awesome work, you must be really pleased with yourself.

How did you go about it? Just little changes over time or something drastic?

So had a really up and down few months at the gym. My main aim leading up to my 30th was to be as lean as I could which I fell a little short of as the old social life became a little too hectic, but I am still really pleased with the results. Hit some lifetime PBs along with way too.

2x6 DL at 180kg (around 83kg BW) was the highlight although i blacked out a touch at the top (stopping me getting the 3rd set) and ended up straining my rotator cuff a little, which meant 3 weeks not being able to do any pull movements, but managed to still get in the gym and work round it.
Also managed 3x12 with the 40s on the flat bench, and again that didnt feel that hard either.
Built up to pull ups with 18kg for , but those have taken a back seat
Yesterday managed 3x8 60kg for OHP which again I think is a lifetime PB.

So so mad to think I can do that now, and other than a few days hasn't taken that much out of me. Even tentatively got back into handstands.

How is everyone else getting on?

That's some really strong work mate especially at 83kg BW

I've given up on squat and deadlift again unfortunately. I keep injuring myself every time I try so I now just do leg extensions and curls to keep a bit of shape.

Chest movements are going really well which you'd expect as they get most of my focus. 140kg paused singles are now pretty easy and I'm aiming for 150kg on Sunday. Feels like I'll get it easy enough but that extra 10kg is a bit intimidating with the pause...... Never quite sure if it's going to get going again once it stops 

DB inclines are up to 50s for nice easy sets of 6 to 8 and I'm now able to do DB shoulder press again although only up to about 36kg for sets of 10 never pushing to failure.

Would be interesting to try OHP again as I haven't done those for ages. I checked my old records and your 60kg for 8 beats my rep PR. Feels like I should be able to press more now that my bench has improved and also now I'm doing DB presses again. Might give it a whirl in the next few weeks.

Do you think he meant the opposite?

Haha.

Correct David. I was all primed up and ready to go into full rant mode.

I'm over it now. 

Does that mean we're allowed to talk to you about it now?

Of course. If you had mentioned ECU's on Monday my mencal elf would have taken a real nose-dive but today I'm all serene and rational.

So tell me Tom; what's your general thoughts on ECUs and DPFs?

Just don't talk to me about how electric vehicles are more like computers on wheels than cars.