How I lost a stone in 6 weeks

It's really very simple: eat less and do more.

Personally I find it very difficult to motivate myself to go to gym classes, especially after a day in the office. So I decided that what I need is a routine that I can do every day, which isn't too strenuous but which will burn off a decent amount of calories. Ultimately I decided that I would walk home from work, a distance of approximately 4 miles.

Previously I caught the bus home, which from my desk to the front door takes about fifty minutes - walking to the bus stop, waiting for the bus, sitting on the bus as it trundles along, and then walking home from the bus stop at which I alight - whereas I can walk it in about an hour and twenty minutes.

Using walkit.com, a very useful website, I was able to determine roughly how many calories I would burn per journey (386), and how many steps I would take (9,300). In addition to the walking I do some bench presses, sit-ups and curls in order to develop a bit of muscle which helps increase one's metabolic rate (i.e. how fast your body burns calories).

Finally, I eat less calories during the day - I try to consume less than a total of 500 calories prior to my evening meal. I reason that with the half-mile walk I do in the morning, in addition to the walk home and weights/sit-ups, I am essentially expending all the calories that I have consumed during the day. Which allows me to eat a decent evening meal and even enjoy a couple of squares of dark chocolate!

In essence I am following the golden rule: doing more and eating less.

At the end of June I weighed 15 stone 12.5 lbs. Today I used a sophisticated set of scales in Boots that measures one's height, weight, body fat and even calculates Body Mass Index (BMI). I intend to update this page as a record of my progression:


HISTORICAL:
(some of these are less detailed, providing just my weight)

09/03/04
Weight: 12st 1lb (77kg)

??/04/04
Weight: 12st 2lb (77.2kg)

13/08/04
Weight: 11st 9lb (74.2kg)

04/08/11
Weight: 16st 1lb (102.1kg)
Height: 5'11.6" (presumably took my shoes off?!)
BMI: 30.8
Body Fat: 31.3%


RECENT:
(since I began this blog)

09/08/15
Weight: 14st 12lb (94.8kg)
Height: 6' 0.7" (1.85 m)
BMI: 27.7 (still overweight!)
Body Fat: 26.4% (still a flabby bastard!)

16/08/15
Weight: 14st 9lb (93.1kg)
Height: 6' 1.2" (1.86 m)
BMI: 26.9 (still overweight!)
Body Fat: 25.2% (still flabby!)

30/08/2015
Weight: 14st 11lb (93.9kg)
Height: 6' 1.2" (1.86m)
BMI: 27.1 (still overweight!)
Body Fat: 25.0% (an improvement!)

06/09/2015
Weight: 14st 8lb (92.6kg)
Height: 6' 0.7" (1.85m)
BMI: 27.1
Body Fat: - machine failed to provide reading!

10/09/2015
Weight: 14st 9lb (93.2kg)
Height: 6' 1.2" (1.86m)
BMI: 26.9
Body Fat: 24.2% (less than average!)

31/10/2015
Weight: 14st 6lb (91.9kg)
Height: 6' 1.2"
BMI: 26.6
Body Fat: 22.4%

26/11/2015
Weight: 14st 0lb (89.3kg)
Height: 6' 1.2"
BMI: 25.8
Body Fat: 24,.4%

28/12/2015
Weight: 13st 13lb (88.7kg)
Height: 6' 0.7"
BMI: 25.9
Body Fat: 23.7%