Steven Mason
MyFitnessPal username: LiangMiUK
Season End:
Starting Weight: 140.4KG / BMI: 35.81
Current Weight: 125.8KG / BMI: 32.08
Total Weight loss: 14.60KG (10.40% of weight)
Achievements earned during season:
- Biggest loser in week 1
- 5% of total weight lost
- 2nd biggest loser in week 2
- Biggest loser in week 3
- 2nd biggest loser in week 5
- Achieved number 1 spot for weight loss % for current season for entire club week 5
- Jean size dropped (40 waist -> 38 waists)
- 10% of total weight loss achieved
Remained number 1 weight loss % for the club week 6- Remained number 1 weight loss % for the club week 7
- Reached 75% of my goal of 20kg in 20 weeks (with 13 weeks still to go)
- Ended season as number 1 ranked weight loss.
Season End Achievements
- Player of the Season for weight loss
- Biggest loser
- Season top weight loss team
This week is the off-season week at MVF Cardiff. Since the season ended I have used this time to celebrate my weight loss, and use this time to go out with some friends and not think about diet. Being mindful of what I am eating but not counting the calories and starting to put my learnings over the last nine weeks into practice.
I recently injured my back, so my exercise regime has been very low while I battle the pain of just moving – which isn’t helpful with a baby around the house! So I have made a conscious effort this week to head to the pool to get some laps in and see if this will be manageable pain-wise, as since I have done my back in I have been quite miserable not doing any exercise. I used that time in my 5km walks to listen to podcasts or audiobooks and feel like I am missing not only some personal time for reflection but also the feeling afterward.
The awards ceremony this week was amazing, it really showed the true MVF spirit with player awards being handed out for various things like support, goals and of course weight loss. With a fully stacked table of awards I managed to get a few for my incredible weight loss journey over the past eight weeks.
With the season done I now look forward to my new season goals. Still working on my initial goal of 20KG lost in 20 weeks I am 75% of the way there with out even being 50% of the way through it. I will look to reach that goal before setting any others so that I still have something that is easy to obtain and is realistic. Now I have lost a majority of weight using diet alone and with the last few weeks doing basic 5km walks with smaller losses it looks like to get the last 5KG some real gym time will have to be introduced. As I said before I will look to put in some pool time and hope that with my bad back that I can do that.
Cory Hickton
I’m struggling with where to start this week. A mix of writer’s block maybe, with a dash of not much happening to write about. It’s funny how you can go from writing week after week with no problem to not knowing what to type.
If you’ve read my most recent blog posts, you’ll be aware of some issues I’ve had with work of late. It’s been a fairly unstable environment while the company goes through some changes and it’s had a rather negative impact on my journey.
I eat my emotions and I eat for comfort a lot of the time. Two things that when combined can be catastrophic in many ways. I’ve been fortunate that the last couple of weeks I have managed small losses. How? I can’t tell you that, for I believe they’re weeks I should have gained.
This last week in particular hasn’t been as bad, but that gain caught up with me. I’d lost half a kilo over the last two weeks, but then this week I gained 1.3kg. When speaking to my coach he said the last couple of weeks being hard diet-wise will have caught up, but it can be lost again. He’s very good at explaining that it’s a journey, not a race. You have to take the ups with the downs. As long as there are more losses than gains then we’re on the right path.
This week was the last week of this season for my league at MvF Football. Overall this season I have lost a staggering half a kilo! I track my progress on a spreadsheet and I can see when this season started back in November, I started pretty well. I had losses up to Christmas. But from the end of January, it appears I’ve struggled.
Is it motivation that has dropped? Willpower? Possibly. It is a combination of a few things. But if you ask me “Do you want to lose weight” my answer will always be a resounding “YES!” I want to lose weight of course. I want to feel like a better person. I want to be able to put my socks on without struggling. I want to be able to run around with my kids.
Motivation and willpower will come and go. It does for everyone, even top athletes. Do they want to get up at 4 am every morning to train? Likely not, but they do it anyway. That is partly motivation and willpower, but more of it is down to discipline. I’ve realised this is where I struggle.
So, as I enter a new season at MvF Football, what is my goal? It’s not to lose ‘x’ amount of weight, it’s not to drop ‘x’ inches from my waist. My goal is simply to become more disciplined in my journey. I’ve not figured out how I’m going to do that yet, but I will find out and I will document it here.
Andrew Shanahan
Consistent inconsistency is the name of the game for me and weight loss of late. Whenever I’m focused and on it, I seem to do really well and have decent losses. Whenever my head is turned – usually because of work – I find that I eat out of boredom and out of a weird sense of reward. You would have thought that by now I would have learned to understand that eating those biscuits doesn’t create the sense of wellness that I think.
I’ve been pondering the value of the own goals system within MVF Football of late. When we first introduced it the idea was to add some stick to go with the carrot that we offer for people losing weight at MVFF. If you don’t know, the way it works is that if you go above your last recorded weight then you score an own goal for your team. It’s really a powerful incentive to focus on what you’re eating, because it’s a horrible feeling to know that you’re undoing the other lads good work before you even get on the pitch.
A couple of times this season I’ve known that I’ve not had a good week and will probably gain. It’s gone through my head that perhaps I would be better off not going in, because I’d already give a goal away. In the end I’ve gone but I have felt bad the two times that it’s led to an own-goal. It also made me wonder if it’s an incentive not to go to MVFF if your weight hasn’t been good. Ultimately though, the best thing to do is to get back on the scales and get back on the horse. I don’t know – I’d be interested in any thoughts on how this works.
