Guest Post - Paul from Fat4Now

Hello and welcome to the first guest post of 2013! Today's post comes from the lovely Paul of Fat4Now! You can also find him on twitter here.

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My name is Paul and I'm a 42 year old from Newcastle. I'm probably older that most of the WAMK readers but Fat has no boundaries.

I was actually slim as a child and in my 20's.

It was my 30's when I had a bad football injury that set me off. Five a side 2 or 3 times a week and then couple of pints and a curry afterwards. After the Injury I couldn't so became the manager. Only difference now I wasn't running around but was still doing the pub and curry house.

I moved in with my ex and neither of us was much of a cook so it was meals out and takeaways in and then when we split I don't think I even attempted cooking. I felt myself getting fatter and unhealthier.

I was a heavy smoker (had been since school) and struggled to quit and also diet.One day on 1st January 2009 I took the plunge, quit the cigarettes and not worry about the diet for at least a year as quitting smoking was more important. I stayed off them and went back and forth to WeightWatchers but never had long term success as social life and shift work meant I couldn't commit to set meeting and stopped going

Then in mid 2011. I went out for a family meal. Couple of months later I saw the following pic and nearly died.

That was my light bulb moment and time to do something about it.The next day I joined a new meeting and weighed in at 21 st 09, my heaviest ever.

I got the info and lost a stone and a half but then a combination of work becoming hectic and the switch to ProPoints it slowed down as I didn't give the plan the time and respect it deserved. I had gone into the 19s but by the weigh in before Christmas I was back upto 20 st 05 on Christmas Day 2011.

Like most merry little WeightWatchers I was in stealth mode during January and February but eased off the gas in March and then by the time my birthday had arrived in July I had only lost 9 lbs in the first half of 2012. I went through all my books and started tracking properly again and lost a stone before my holidays the following month but 3 weeks of Spain meant by the time I got back in mid September I had put that back on.

This is when I realised something had to be done. So cleared my cupboards out and started the gym at work. I was only doing 20-30 mins cardio 3 or 4 times a week so nothing too intense but my heart didn't seem in. I was losing a couple, gaining a couple so then thats when I decided I needed a jolt. What was I eating too much of and spoiling everything? This wasn't a diet, it was a lifestyle change.

The answer to that was easy enough. Pretty much everything. So i made the choice.

30 Days in November and 31 Days in December. For those 61 days I wouldnt consume

Sweets

Crisps

Chocolate

Nuts

Biscuits

Fizzy Pop

TakeAways (inc McDonalds, Greggs, Sandwich shops, etc)

Basically I do a Food shop at Sainsburys on a Thursday and thats it.

Everything I eat or drink i make (or heat up) myself. 

So i went to my meeting on Thursday 1st November. Weighed in at same as July at a shocking 19 st 10.5. Told people about what I was going to give up for the rest of the year and got some very supportive comments and a couple of looks that people give when they have heard the same old broken record. It is fair in hindsight. Couldn't expect people to believe in me when I didn't myself.

After my meeting I went and done the weekly shop. I also got 1 pack of Walkers Extra Crunchy Salt n Vinegar crisps and a bar of Nestle Crunch chocolate to put away safely as a reward for completing my challenge.

Each week I stuck rigidly to the plan. I still had treats as my weeklies went on Alcohol or proper bread and I felt healthier as I wasn't scrimping on points to save points for junk. 

I was setting myself up for the day better and planning better. The weight loss was also clicking into place and the next 6 weigh ins resulted in the following losses...

8.5

4.0

3.5

4.5

2.5

2.0

That took me to a total of 47.5 lbs on the 6th December with 2 more weigh ins left before Christmas to get my 50 lbs certificate.  I was worried in case it was slowing down so I decided to step it up even more and cut out the Bread and the alcohol for the week.

I was no longer having sneaky peeks at the scales so hadn't a club when i went to WW on the 13th whether I had done it or not.

I actually closed my eyes. Hayley, my leader, said 3.5 off. You've done it. 51 lbs in total and I had got my certificate at last.

I was also now noticing the difference in my fitness and now the gym at work was 30-45 mins of cardio and weights 4 times a week. Also the different NSV were amazing. I'm a middle aged (old) man and girls at work were coming up to me saying how good my skin was looking. 7 weeks of no rubbish detox with plenty of water and 5 a day for good measure will do that. Or maybe they just meant it wasn't as yukky as it was in the past. I now had 1 final weigh in of the year (20th December) and with no pressure I just done my normal thing and managed to lose 4.5 lbs. This took me half a pound off 4 stone.

But I had one more minefield to overcome. My next weigh in isn't until 10th January so had to stay on track so even though I had got my 50 lbs certificate I was still going to stay off the junk - even over Christmas and New Year. My target when I left class was to return with a minimum of a half pound loss to get me that 4 stone. So I have tracked and stuck to plan over Christmas. I drank Christmas Eve and then had a couple of ciders with my Christmas Dinner.

Christmas Day 2011 (20st 5lbs) vs Christmas Day 2012 (17st 9.5lbs). Looking forward to Christmas Day 2013 to put alongside it. Maybe my sister will provide a new apron for the Dishwasher. 

Boxing day I just drank tea with the traditional Turkey and Chips dinner. I havent touched Alcohol since and also cut out the bread and stayed in New Years Eve.

This is me now.

I'm nearly 4 stone lighter but I still have 5 to go. Thats my 2013 plan. 100 lbs certificate and then goal.

On the 1st of January 2013 I had my bag of crisps, my WW rich toffee bar and a pint of Diet Cherry Coke. After 2 months without they were blooming lovely. I also toasted 4 years as a non smoker.

I am saving my chocolate for Thursday (new set of weeklies) After all I don't want to spoil myself. I am not even half way in my journey but I feel focussed and I know I will succeed.

Good luck and Happy New Year x

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We at Where Are My Knees? want to say a massive thank you to Paul for sharing his story with us here today. We're always looking for people to guest post for us, so if you're interested then please do get in touch. Whether you're just starting out, halfway there or have already achieved your goals, we'd love to hear from you! You can email us at wherearemyknees@gmail.com, or drop us a tweet at @wherearemyknees.

Much love!
Team WAMK