This is the End?

News of my intention to allow this blog to lapse met with something of a negative reaction from my loyal readership. It doesn't have a wide circulation but clearly my friends and acquaintances on Facebook who have suffered a bombardment of links to this site over the past 12 months have not yet had enough and want YearOfTheDiet to continue.

Taking note of the feedback, and quoting The Jam, 'the public gets what the public wants', though I'll add I have no intention for Going Underground or to be Down In The Tube Station at Midnight Therefore, for the foreseeable future at least, I'll keep blogging. I can't promise to be as prolific as I have been over the last year (117 posts and counting, nearly 1 every 3 days) but if there is a market, no matter how small, for a bloke to write about his weight and conversion to running, it might as well be me who meets that demand.

It is probably a good job too. Since writing the last article on Wednesday, I've effectively drifted into eating mode without yet getting to Christmas week. It is one thing putting on the pounds when enjoying the festivities (and I certainly plan to do so) but it is quite another when you are just eating for the sake of it. That is a bad habit which I can't afford to allow to creep back in if I want to maintain my sleeker self. A good run tomorrow morning should help with that, though given the rain this week and the overnight frost, I have a feeling Black Park could be a little sludgy come Saturday.

Less of this please Graham

So there you have it folks. This site is not done yet and neither am I. Just when I thought I was out........

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Wednesday Weigh-In 18 December

Without getting all flowery and emotional, this entry effectively represents the end of a yearlong journey. Today is the penultimate Wednesday of 2013 and with the last one Christmas morning, I can pretty confidently say this is the final Wednesday Weigh In. I mean I could mount the scales on 25 December and blog away rather than spend that time with my wife and boys, but then I might as well start looking for a bedsit and consult a family solicitor. It's not going to happen folks, so this will be final weigh in for 2013.

And like all good seasonal stories, we're going to end on a high note. Following last week's minor blip, 7 days of being reasonably on the dieting ball has resulted in a loss. I stood on the scales this morning at my lightest yet; a full 21 lbs below the target I set myself for the year and a grand total of 62 lbs lighter than when this project started back on 2nd January. Or if we want to look further back in time, 10 stone less than I was at the end of 2006.

What 14st looks like

What 24st looked like

I've little doubt that in the coming fortnight I will indulge and find the scales a little bit less respectable in the New Year, but I think I've done enough in 2013 to merit a little time off during the festive season. I have one eye on the half marathon in March so will continue to run the Saturday morning 5k this week and next, and even ventured out for a relaxed 6k jog on Monday evening with a view to upping my training in the new year. But in between times, I expect to eat, drink and be merry like everybody else.

The only cloud on the horizon that I can see concerns the future of this blog. With the 'YearOfTheDiet' drawing to a close, and my aim for 2014 to maintain body weight rather than actively diet, it would render this site rather redundant. Publishing my weightloss progress in a public arena worked as a great motivator to ensure I was successful, but if weightloss is no longer on my agenda, my witterings on here will become less prolific. And lets be honest, most of my readership don't want to witness me go on about running all the bloody time.

So is this the end? Probably not quite. The blog will remain open and dare I say it if things go overboard next week I may need to open myself up to public scrutiny on Wednesday mornings once more. Knowing me I doubt I'll be able to restrain myself from penning the occasional article, so this is more Vera Lynn than Good Riddance But thanks for following my progress over the last year, for the feedback I've received along the way and if you want to make 2014 the year when you want to lose a few lbs, you can count on my support.

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Wednesday Weigh-In - 11 December

The blog has gone quiet over the past week, somewhat reflecting how in the last 7 days the diet has not really been top priority. During the second half of last week, my little one was poorly, full of seasonal bugs which made for a gruelling few days on limited patchy sleep. In such circumstances, I like anybody else struggle to maintain discipline when my body tells me it is aching for rest. As such, the shackles were removed and I fuelled up on chocolate, crisps and whatever else took my fancy. Sometimes a bit of badness is justified and this was definitely such an occasion.

Of course, when the clouds started to lift, I could have reined things in a bit, but didn't. On Saturday I effectively had two main meals after enjoying a hot lunch with friends before being treated to a roast dinner by my wife later in the evening. On Sunday the buffet available at my mother's house during a family gathering was far too tempting not to indulge in, going back for extra helpings. Yesterday I had my work Christmas lunch, a three course affair topped off with a frankly ridiculous but rather yummy Mince Pie Sundae. 

And so with all that combined, it came as no surprise that for the first time in months, the scales on a Wednesday morning displayed a weight gain. Just a solitary lb mind.

Upwards Motion

Does this mark the turning of weightloss fortunes and suggest a malaise setting in? I'd like to think not. I expected worse if truth be told so consider a marginal increase to be a bit of a result. But just in case a small part of me mentally believes everything is done and dusted, well I have news to the contrary. 

Just signed up to run the Maxifuel Dorney Lake Half Marathon, running to raise sponsorship for @SHINEUKCharity http://t.co/opygXDeChz
— Graham Kaye-Taylor (@bigfatrebel) December 11, 2013

Yep, another running challenge beckons. The Saturday morning 5k is a jog in the park nowadays. The 10k in September was so 2013. Next year I'm raising the bar and will run my first half marathon. You can read about the inevitable charity fundraising over on my Just Giving page or by clicking the button that I've added to the right hand side of the blog.

2013 has been Year Of The Diet. 2014 will begin by getting myself ready for 22 March. Wish me luck.

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Selfie-Evolution

I was somewhat dismayed to read that 'Selfie' has been made Word of 2013 by the wonks at Oxford Dictionaries. Quite apart from the fact that people have been snapping poorly taken photographs of themselves ever since Kodak was first marketed in the late 19th century, surely #YearOfTheDiet has been the most important new addition to the English language over the last 12 months? Well, maybe not!

But just to prove my point, below is a selfie that a younger me took during the summer of 1992, a few days short of my 12th birthday. What information can we glean from this Bailey-esque image? Well, firstly it goes without saying I wasn't the prettiest kid in my class. Double chin and unkept hair were never a good look, nor indeed is the stupid face I've pulled for the camera. The other thing that can be established from this photo is that in my earlier years, I supported The Reds.

I was a hit with the girls. Not!

Like a huge number of children of my age, I was a glory-hunting supporter of Liverpool FC. Before my sadomasochistic tendencies came to the fore and I followed Slough Town through the depths of the non-league, I was a long-distance Kopite. Using money from my 11th birthday, I bought my first ever football jersey, the Liverpool home shirt in distinctive red with white Adidas stripes over the right shoulder. You tend not to see too many of these replicas these days, given they marked the start of the ill-fated Souness era. For some reason though, despite outgrowing the shirt within a couple of years and switching allegiance to my local club, I retained the shirt for nostalgia.

Having spent years gathering dust, I recently found myself reacquainted with that shirt. I did think about flogging it on ebay just as I did with a programme and ticket stub from my one and only Anfield visit (Liverpool lost 1-0 to Norwich, last game before the Kop was redeveloped), but couldn't see there was much demand for a 22 year old well worn replica shirt.

Instead, and for my own personal amusement, I though I would try the shirt on. Now bearing in mind I bought this as an 11 year old, wore it during after school football clubs at primary school and can be seen in the selfie above modelling it just shy of my 12th birthday, I didn't expect to get much more than my head to fit into it. On the contrary, my torso didn't need any help to squeeze in, as the next selfie below shows.

21 and a half years later, and I'm 11 years old again

Even factoring that I was a big child and probably bought a larger shirt than I needed for longevity, it seems crazy to me that I can comfortably wear something that I adorned in my pre-teenage days. When I boast about being in the best shape of my adult life, the claim probably holds true for most of my childhood too. Wonder how much longer before I start trading clothes with my 5 year old?

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Wednesday Weigh-In - 27 November

In the days before the internet and Football Manager, I used to be an avid reader. One of my favourite authors was Stephen King, which I blame mostly on my sister for renting the movie of IT from the Videobox when I was about 10 or 11. You may recall the particularly creepy clown called Pennywise who tormented children by informing them about balloons that "all float" - and if you don't here he is in his full glory

One of King's lesser known books, possibly because the film made of it paled in comparison with The Shining or Carrie, was Thinner. The lead character was an overweight gentleman called Billy Halleck, who kills a gypsy woman with his car, before acquiring a curse that causes him to lose weight. Uncontrollably. When trying to eat more to compensate for the weightloss, it only helped to speed up the process.

I'm starting to wonder if I've knocked down a gypsy woman and had a similar curse bestowed upon me. After a weekend which was firmly in the feast category rather than famine, I expected to have gained a pound or two. Instead, I've lost a pound, taking me down to 14st 2lb.

Thinner!

I was speaking to an industry colleague last week who used to be a personal trainer in another life. He suggested that I have sped up my metabolism, through earlier weightloss and the uptake of aerobic exercise. This probably makes more sense in explaining the scales this week than putting it down to a hit and run incident with an old crone. I'm not going to take it for granted that I can eat what I want and get away with it, because that sort of thinking is what has caused my to regain weight after previous diets. But it is reassuring to think that the occasional blowout doesn't necessarily lead to weight gain.

So the scales today put me at 14st 2lbs. There are only 4 Wednesday weigh-ins remaining in 2013. Can I sneak under 14 stone by Christmas Day? We'll have to see. It wouldn't be a horror story if I don't, but would make for a happy ending to a year of hard graft.

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Weigh-In 20 November

Junior has left me feeling rather weary after a series of night times that have been very patchy on sleep. With that in mind I'll keep this entry short, but sweet. Two pounds lost since last Wednesday, meaning I'm now the lightest I've ever been as an adult, and can probably go back several years into my childhood too.

Like this!

Back in the days before I started blogging, I used to track my weight on a spreadsheet. On 18 November 2009 and for one week only, I got down to 14st 4lbs. Well, fast forward virtually 4 years to the day and I've gone one better. If you can forgive a break from the convention of the Wednesday article, I'm also including a snap of the scales when set to display pounds. For the first time, this starts with a 1, rather than a 2 or even a 3 as I've been accustomed to in the past. Very much like this.

Like this more!

Wild celebrations followed the weigh-in this morning, in the form of a trip to CostCutter where I treated myself to a Nature Valley Crunch oat thing and a bottle of Ribena Light. I certainly know how to rock the diet boat these days.

Hopefully I'll be rewarded with a bit more sleep tonight from Junior. If not, he may find himself being subjected to The Ashes.

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The Fantastic 4

De La Soul proclaimed that 3 is The Magic Number. If you don't believe me, listen for yourself.

However, I'm starting to believe there is something a lot more special about the number 4. Here is why.

In my last weigh-in, I had lost 4 pounds

In doing so, my cumulative weightloss for 2013 passed 4 stone

It has been 4 months since I made my ParkRun debut, back in July

Today I recorded my best placing, crossing the line number 104

I set a new PB today of 24:15, shaving 44 seconds off my previous best.

Coincidentally, it was the 4th event of the #ChaseThePlace contest, keeping me in the hunt for a place on the Lucozade Sport London Marathon team. In recording a PB today, I'll have two entries in the hat, assuming I run the next 4 ParkRun weekends.

This afternoon, my sister insisted I needed to eat chocolate because I am getting too thin, and so I enjoyed 4 little toblerones.

4 years ago, in the post-Christmas sale I bought a pair of 34 inch jeans, with a view to fitting into them once I lost my Christmas podge. They have spent the last 4 years gathering dust in my wardrobe. I've been very smugly wearing them today for the first time.

So there we go. 3 may be The Magic Number, but this evening, I'm pretty happy associated with The Fantastic 4.

Wednesday Weigh-In 13 November

After a couple of weeks without scales movement, today’s weigh-in produces a couple of landmarks. Since I weighed myself last Wednesday morning, I have shed 4lbs, taking me down today to 14st 5lbs. In doing so, I’ve gone past 4st in total weightloss in 2013, having tipped the scales at 18st 6lbs on 2nd January. That target of 41lbs loss I set myself seems somewhat modest, now that I’m 57lbs lighter.

14:9 to 14:5 - big week for the diet

The other milestone reached today is that medically at least I am normal. No doubt family, friends and loved ones will scoff at the suggestion that I am in any way normal, but according to the Body Mass Index, that is exactly what I am. I’m not going to be doing cartwheels about this as I don’t hold the BMI with much credence, but it is good to know that if I had to see my GP today, they couldn’t tell me that I’m overweight.

Me normal? Healthy Weight? Surely not!

I’m now on the cusp of being the lightest I’ve been as an adult. In November 2009 I very briefly got down to 14st 4lbs, before the wheels started to come off that dieting effort. With Christmas coming up on the horizon I’ll be honest and admit that I expect to gain a few lbs over the festive season, but I’ve no intention of allowing myself to regress over a sustained period. Before I get to turkey, stuffing and bottomless tubs of Quality Street, I’ve got a good month in which to keep doing what has worked so well over the last year. I’m not going to put pressure on myself to reach further targets, but it would be nice if I can do the following.

Reach 14st 3lbs and not only am I the lightest I’ve been since some long lost forgotten moment in my childhood, but I’ll also weigh under 200lbs. Bearing in mind at my biggest, I was 336lbs, that is some achievement.

Reach 14st dead and I’ll have lost 10st from my heaviest point. That is like a whole person removed from my body.

Dip under 14st and I’m hitting new territory altogether. If I see the scales starting 13st, I don’t think it is realistic to chase anything less, and it would all be about maintaining from that point on rather than actively seeking further weightloss.

I’m getting close to the end of this journey, but there are still a few more miles to go. Whatever the outcome from here, I can look back on the past 317 days with a great sense of satisfaction. 

That snail is fast!

During half term, I took my eldest to the cinema to watch the film Turbo. Without trying to give the whole of the pretty feeble plot away, there is a snail who dreams about motor racing. Following a small accident involving nitrous oxide, 'Turbo' finds himself moving at a faster pace than your average garden snail. Without trying to stretch the point too much, I can see a little bit of correlation between me and this kiddie flick. Admittedly, I've not consumed chemicals to give me special powers, or been taking under the wing of a Latino taco vendor. But as the months have gone by I've become a stronger faster runner and at the weekend I notched off another personal milestone.

Before I started doing the ParkRun thing on Saturday mornings, I did a bit of reading on 5k races. An article from Runners World grabbed my attention suggesting that 'breaking the 25 minute barrier marks you out as a committed runner' . While I know from reading various forums that this comment was rather sneered at by some in the running community (yes, looking at you skeletons in vests who find this exercise business so much easier than us mere mortals) it provided me a target to aim for.

Since July I had attempted 15 timed 5k races, with my quickest at 25:28 and my slowest at 30:06. Last Saturday, at the 16th time of asking I improved on my PB by 29 seconds and just managed to sneak inside sub-25, crossing the line in 24.59. This doesn't mark me down as anything special, indeed I was one of 123 runners at my event who completed the course within 25 minutes. But I can't imagine too many of them were morbidly obese just a few years ago and incapable of running a few metres without sweating and wheezing uncontrollably.

How much faster can I go? I imagine things will become a little more tricky from here onwards. I'd like to think that maybe there is a sub-24 minute run in me but time will tell. Maybe if I have a little bit of what Turbo is drinking. That said, the times aren't important in the overall scheme of things. It is good to have something to aim for, but the important thing is I'm maintaining regular exercise which is helping me to become fitter and healthier. The fact I'm enjoying it and look forward to damp cold Saturday mornings is a welcome bonus.

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Wednesday Weigh-In 16 October

Last week's three lb loss was always going to be tough to follow up, not least as I didn't have a sneaky blood donation to help me along the way. Having got under 15st my goal for the week was to keep it that way, rather than necessarily push on with the diet. Consolidation is important from time to time, as pushing too much can be detrimental, either by weakening yourself or by causing a relapse.

With the weather turning, I went shopping for a winter coat on Monday.  Despite having got down to this size before I had never bought myself a smaller coat for the colder seasons, so this was a nice treat. With my little one in a nursery taster session, I had time to browse rather than do my usual trick of look online beforehand and then spend a couple of minutes in a physical shop to make the transaction.

After 4 or 5 shops where I left somewhat disappointed by what was on offer, I found what I wanted. A navy blue woolly duffel coat, complete with hood. I loved it and loved it even more when I found that I fitted nicely into an M size. I've road tested it a couple of times already on the school walk this week and it keeps me lovely and warm. Give me a silly hat and some marmalade sandwiches and I look like Paddington Bear! Having bought this, I now have a responsibility to ensure that I still fit into it until Spring comes around.  There is a bit of give, but aside from Christmas week, I don't plan on expanding.

Back on message, the scales this morning read as follows

So, despite not really chasing weightloss this week, I have still managed to wave goodbye to another 2lbs. To celebrate this morning I could have taken advantage of child free time by visiting a café for something delicious, or head to Burger King which I've been craving recently.  Instead, and despite the pretty miserable conditions, I've been for a run. 

My result on Saturday morning wasn't all that I had wanted it to be, so a bit of midweek training was the order of the day. I'm giving serious consideration to running a half marathon in the spring, so probably need to get used to the wet and the cold, as if I do sign up there is only winter training ahead. I've read that one of my friends and readers of this blog has signed up for the London Marathon (go Tina!) but I don't feel that distance is realistic for me just yet. But the Silverstone Half, following in the footsteps of my brother-in-law who did this earlier in the year sounds appealing. Watch this space.