Fat Boy at 40 - Update 01

03 Oct 2023 | ~6 minute read

It's been a little over a month since I mentioned the Fat Boy at 40 thing (me wanting to lose some weight), so I thought it was hide time provided an update...

So I've been tracking my weight, BMI and blood pressure over the last 6 weeks. The good news is that my weight has gone down, as has my BMI and my blood pressure, but I think I could have done better.

I've been keeping a week-by-week log of how I've done, those notes are below if you're interested in reading that, but the key take aways are that I'm making good progress with eating crap in the evening, and exercising, but I'm still struggling to get my weekends under control.

Like I said in the last post though, this is a long-term change, so as long as my weight keeps trickling down, I'm happy.

The numbers

Ok, so here's the numbers so far:

That's a total loss so far of 2.5kg (5.5lbs). While not great, it's still a loss and I'm headed in the right direction. What has really surprised me though, is how much my blood pressure has come down - that's a significant drop, and I'm really happy with that particular metric.

My weight loss weekly log

Below are the entries of my weight loss log. They're only a paragraph or so each, but provide more detail on how I've done week-by-week.

Mon 04 Sept 2023

Last week was my first week doing all this. I’m keeping the changes deliberately small, so I’ve made 3 small changes:

1. Introduced 16:8 intermittent fasting, so I won’t eat after 19:00 - this means no more snacking in the evening
2. Tried to make conscious choices with the food I eat, and drinking water when I get a hunger pang
3. Moving more - taking the dogs for longer, harder (uphill) walks

Generally it was a good week. I had 1 slip on Saturday where we were out for drinks with friends., I decided to snack when I get home, as I was a little drunk. But that’s fine - I need to be able to have fun too!

Weight loss wasn’t as good as I’d hoped for this week, 0.4KG, but it’s still a loss and I’m trying to focus on that. Need to try and not be deflated by this - it’s a loss, that’s a good thing.

Current weight is 110.5KG and BMI is 30.6.

Mon 11 Sept 2023

I don’t think I had a great week this week. It’s been REALLY hot, so I haven’t had the opportunity to get out for long walks with the dogs. I have still been managing to get out during my lunch break in work, but it’s very flat at the office, so my heart rate doesn’t really get going.

Food wise, things are going ok I suppose. I’m managing to stave off the hunger pangs in the evening, and it’s starting to get a lot easier. I rarely notice them now, so that’s good. Generally my eating has been ok this week…for the most part. We did get take out on Friday as a treat, and we had pizza for dinner on Saturday because my wife and I were so busy, we ran out of time to cook something decent. So we just had to threw some pizza in the oven. I’ve also reduced the amount of sugar I have in my coffee from 1 teaspoon, to half a teaspoon. My goal is to cut this out completely - I used to have 2 sugars, so I’m sure I’ll be able to do this. I also think there’s too much salt in my diet - I tend to put some salt on pretty much every evening meal, so I’m trying to cut that down too.

With the take out, pizza and reduction in activity thanks to the heat, I was expecting to be flat at best this week, but I was really surprised this morning when the scales read a weight of 108.8kg - that’s a total loss of 2.1kg (4.6lbs) so far. My BMI has also reduced a little bit too, it’s now down to 30.1.

Really happy with those results and it’s spurred me on to keep going.

Mon 18 Sept 2023

Not a great week this week. Had some very healthy and gorgeous meals during the week, but it all went to shit at the weekend. We had take out on Friday, then just ate crap all weekend as and when we could, because we were so busy (as always). I really need to be cognisant of that during the weekend - I’m ok during the week, but for the last 2 weekends, I’ve let go a little. I’m using the excuse that we’re too busy to cook proper meals, but it’s no excuse really. We just need to be better at planning our time at the weekend. Or if my wife says she’s gonna cook pizza for the kids, I won’t partake. Instead opting for something more healthy.

I’ve put a little bit of weight on this week, but honestly, I was expecting it to be worse; +200g, making my current weight 109.1kg - that’s a total weight loss of 1.8kg (4lbs) and a BMI of 30.2.

We go again this week…

Mon 25 Sept 2023

I’ve been better this week - I feel like my eating has improved from last week. I’ve had no instances of snacking, and I’ve been busy at home too, so burning extra calories. Today’s weigh in was much more positive than last week - I’m down a full kilogram, to 108.1kg, resulting in a total loss of 2.8kg (6.2lbs) so far. Also, this has now brought my BMI down to 29.9, so I’m no longer obese, I’m just overweight haha.

I think I’ve turned a corner this week. The hunger pangs are all but gone in the evening and I think I’m making better decision with my food. Not only that, but I feel more energetic and I’m sleeping better too.

Let’s hope it continues this week.

Monday 02 October 2023

I’ve fallen off the wagon again this week. Nothing drastic, but enough to make me put on a little bit of weight. Basically, my wife went away with our next door neighbour and a couple of other friends, so I had beers with the other half of our next door neighbour’s marriage, then preceded to eat take out and crap all weekend.

This has resulted in a gain of 0.3kg, making my total weight 108.4kg, resulting in a total loss so far of 2.5kg (5.5lbs). I’m not snacking or anything like that still, so it’s all good - I just need to get these weekends under control. It seems that if I fall off the wagon at any point during the weekend, I just think “fuck it” then go crazy for the entire weekend. I need to stop doing that…

Final thoughts

So far, so good, I think. I've lost a bit of weight, and my bloody pressure has really dropped. I'm also more active, and generally feeling more healthy. All positive.

The changes I've made so far are pretty much habitual at this point, so I think I'll start looking for the next change to make soon - maybe some short jogging, but I'll have to see how my knees hold up to that...

• FatBoy