The MAN v FAT Weight Loss Diaries: make or break

CORY HICKTON

This week was a make-or-break week for me. After last week’s slight gain, it was all-or-nothing for a loss this week.

I went back to basics. I didn’t want to get hung up on calories and such. I just needed to not overthink it and not worry. So I changed up what I normally do, I didn’t track. It might not help my football team at the next weigh-in, but I needed to do it for me.

I spend too much time thinking about food when I’m tracking. I’ll get to the evening and see if I have calories left for the day. I’ll then have something else to eat when I’m not even hungry. It’s counter-productive, but this is what was happening.

This last week involved none of that. I had no idea how many calories I had remaining in an evening. So I didn’t eat after my evening meal. I didn’t go hungry, but that immediately was a few hundred calories a day I wasn’t consuming needlessly.

I also made a huge shift in snacking. I’d usually go for crisps, cheese or yoghurts. They’d get tracked and counted, but I’m flying blind now. Fruit was my main snack this last week. If I’m honest I’ve enjoyed eating more fruit and less processed stuff. I can’t remember the last time I ate a pear!

I came into the weekend on a high. I was determined that what I’d done through the week was not about to be undone. I have control over this and I will do it.

I fancied a pizza on Saturday, but I knew that I would feel real down after if I had one. So, out came the frying pan and an omelette topped with Mushrooms, Onion, Ham and Cheese. Pretend the omelette is a pizza and I’m winning. Furthermore, it was tastier than I thought it would be and filling. The best part, there was no guilt after eating it!

Monday arrived and I dreaded weigh-in all day. I had this gut feeling that I’d not counted calories all week and that I was going to be hugely over. I message the guys in the team chat about how I was feeling and there was an overwhelming amount of support! It is worth noting if you’re struggling, reach out to the guys around you at MAN v FAT.

I eventually got to weigh in and dragged myself on the scales. I couldn’t remember what I weighed the week before, my mind went blank despite checking a few minutes earlier. I saw the weight and immediately thought I had gained again. Much to my surprise, the coach said I’d lost 2.4kg! I nearly fell over, I couldn’t believe it.

What I learned this week was not to get too caught up in what you’re consuming – it can sometimes have the opposite effect of what you are wanting. If you’re struggling, say so to your teammates and if need be, do what I did and take it back to basics.

STEVEN MASON

This week has been amazing. This week was the celebration of my family’s Chinese Traditions with Chinese New Year. This is normally a belly-filling experience and it was still a belly-filling experience, but with a difference.

For Saturday we celebrated with a Chinese hotpot. We went through and calorie counted all the food, veg and dumplings and worked that into my 1800 calorie diet. Carefully planning high calorie foods like sliced lamb which was very fatty, meatballs, hotdog pieces with the abundance of veg to mostly fill the hotpot. We had a great time enjoying my son’s first Chinese new year, watching Chinese TV’s New Year gala and yet with all this food, I managed to lose 0.5kg the following day.

Chinese New Year’s Day was dumpling day. With large amounts of calorie-busting flour used, we worked out our homemade recipe using lean mince would be only 28 calories per dumpling. Working again like the prior day with light calorie breakfast and lunch meant I could enjoy a great amount of dumplings and lost another 0.5KG over that day

Losing weight and enjoying a flavour-filled Chinese New Year meant the world to me. To top it off on the scales this week I lost a total of 2kg, meaning for my initial goal of losing 20KG in 20 weeks I have achieved half my goal in only 3 weeks. To say I am on Cloud Nine is an understatement. Next minor goal will be to get under the 130’s, which should be achievable this week. Last week I managed to slip on some ice and injure my ankle, so I can’t play football for a week or two but with the three consecutive weight losses I have had, even though I am not on the pitch I am still scoring goals for my team.

ANDREW SHANAHAN

Bit of a disastrous week for me – again. Since I started my weight loss at the beginning of January, I’ve had a run of bad luck with injuries and illness, all of which have added up to me not having the focus that you need to lose weight. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I missed weigh-in this week thanks to some kind of flu that had been brewing for a week or so. Shivers and sneezing lots has meant that I’ve been reaching for the biscuits at the same time as reaching for the Lemsip. Additionally, my knee has blown up to twice its usual size, which means that my efforts to carry on with Couch 2 5K (week 4, run 2) have been hampered.

It’s ultra-frustrating, but I think the only thing I can do is draw a line under it this week and get back on with focusing on the weigh in next Thursday. It’s the start of our league’s cup fixtures and I think that will be a good motivation as we may even have a chance to win it. We won’t, but we have the chance, and sometimes that’s enough!