Thursday 27 October 2016

Day 31, the numbers are in

So I met my month goal of abstaining from alcohol.  I waited at midnight for balloons and confetti to fall from the ceiling, but alas none.  My OH asked if I was waiting up until one minute after midnight to have a glass of wine.  While technically allowed under my rules...no.  In particular as today was stats day at the gym.

On the last Thursday of each month I use their fancy scale and record the results.  I now have a track record going back to December of last year.  September's numbers were brutal as I was only 2 days into the challenge and my numbers were the worst or second to worst since I started running them after a summer of decadent living.

After 30 days of no alcohol (and no Pringles too, in my attempt to knock out junk food at the same time) I was excited to see what had changed.  I'm pleased to say that everything improved.  Here are the actual results (height 5' 5", age 41.5):


Sept weight:  59.6 kilos      Oct weight:  58.6 kilos
bmi:  21.6  vs 21.3
bodyfat:  30  to 27.8
muscle mass:  39.6 to 40.2
bone mass 2.1 to 2.2
metabolic age  33 to 29
visceral fat 4.0 to 3.5

Some thoughts on these numbers:

1. weight - I lost 1 kilo in the first week before the 7 days count was reached and kept it off since.  That bloated squishy-ness was gone by day 5.  I messed around with the diet this month trying to get the right amount of calories to support the increased exercise.  I expect to continue to inch it down another kilo over a few months.

2. bodyfat - pleased this went down.  This puts me squarely in the 'normal' range.  Now to take it down a little further so that I have some abs.

3. muscle mass - a little increase.  I'm more of a cardio person, so we'll take that.

4. metabolic age - the scale puts together a number of factors and comes up with this one.  I've previously been down to 27 so headed in the right direction.

5. visceral fat - that's the layer of fat cushioning the liver etc.  This one was the primary driver of this month's challenge as my earlier numbers were always 3.5.  Just the summer binging had put it up in the 4 range so a good indicator to make a change. 

I feel the lack of alcohol was a positive influence in my situation.  Without it I had more energy to focus on the sports side and to get the food choices right.

I'm planning to have wine this weekend but I'm also planning to do the Saturday morning 5k.  I'd like to try for wine to be a just Saturday or Sunday thing but we'll see.  I may also just do this one month on/one off tempo as I like the routine of not having alcohol, once I get going.

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Day 29

Nothing much exciting to say, mid-week routine, work and gym.  Tuesdays are one of my favorite sessions at the gym, the instructor is hard core and energetic.  I feel my physical performance is so much better than it was four weeks ago.

I had originally planned tomorrow as day 30, to have a lovely wine on Friday evening, day 32.  OH's sister wants to try out an Italian restaurant that just opened on that evening.  I'm not overly fond of Italian wine/beer, so decided to delay my deadline another day, until Saturday.  Plus, we had an enjoyable time at last week's 5k run so we decided to try it again for a faster time.  So it seems that glass of wine will be Saturday night instead as I don't want to impact my sport performance.

This is precisely what I was wishing for by quitting for 30 days, that I'd be more of a 'person who does things and occasionally enjoys a glass of wine' instead of planning my days and activities around wine o'clock.

Saturday 22 October 2016

Day 26

We did the local park run this morning after at least two years of me suggesting it off and on.  Ours is a popular location and it was an anniversary event so very buzzy...balloons, costumed runners, the works.  I don't really do mornings in general or athletics in the morning in particular.  9 AM found us pounding the pavement with 500+ other healthy, morning-happy folk.  This is one thing that this (almost) month off of alcohol has given to me, just so much more energy and a 'get up and go' attitude. 


We then stopped in at OH's pub for a full English breakfast.  I am not so fond of his pub in general as it's a smelly, sticky place and their wine is cheap so I didn't drink it even when I was full on drinking.  Not much of a beer drinker either as it always made me feel bloated and burpy.  But he was pleased as punch to be in his pub, sans beer as it was not yet even 10 AM, but getting to tuck into a large plate of food.  I stop in as a one off every 6 months of so and at that time of day when the windows are open and the sun is shining in, it was a good morning.

Now on to tackle administrative paperwork and to get to the post office as Sat afternoon is the least busy time of the week when I can get there.


Thursday 20 October 2016

Day 24

Haven't had much to say, continuing on the path.  30 days will be next Wednesday but I have a good set of gym classes on Thurs and Fri at lunchtime so I'm extending it out until next Friday which makes 31 nights alcohol free.

I've convinced my other half that we should do the free weekly 5k run in the park on Saturday.  It starts at 9 AM and I've been saying for years that we should do it.  Now that I've made it through 3 alcohol-free weekends I'm looking to up the ante on weekend four.  Quote from OH:  oh, 9 AM is a little early, so will need to take it easy on Friday night at the pub.  He's been indirectly dialing it down, since I'm not drinking wine on the weekends and his best work colleague is abstaining until Dec 1 so no boozy lunches.  His weight has dropped two kilos, ha!

Sidenote, I'm not a big fan of alcohol free beer, wine etc.  I'm not a beer drinker in general and alcohol free wine seems sickly sweet as do most alochol free drinks such as J20. For anyone in the UK, I find that a nice alcohol free alternative is "Marks and Spencer Sparkling Mexican Lime and Lemongrass Presse".  We enjoyed it last night in the fancy wine glasses, it's sold near the sodas.  I think it would be lovely at a party, pop a little party umbrella in it and maybe dress it up with some strawberries chopped up and frozen in ice cubes. 

Thursday 13 October 2016

Day 17

Did a 2 week weigh in at the gym to get more insight into why weight loss has stalled.  They have a fancy scale that measures muscle mass, fat, etc.  I'm down .9 kilo but lost a load of muscle mass and only a small amount of fat.

So reworking the food and exercise schedule.  I think I'm too low on calories and running the high intensity stuff too high.  I enjoy the high intensity classes a lot but I've been dragging in the last week.  I had this happen before, when I knock out dairy it tends to take with a lot of carbs by default as I switch to Asian stir fries instead.  As OH pointed out...cutting out alcohol cut out a lot of sugar/calories from your diet.  Well, yes

So upping the calories starting today and putting in some lower grade cardio to go with it.  Feeling much better today, had no idea why I was riding a low grade headache for three days.

With my new found energy I managed to list four auctions on ebay and one already has a bid before I even finished the whole set of listings.  So more carp being cleared out of my life literally as well as figuratively.

As I now have a better direction on the weight/exercise front, I'm going to keep the no alcohol thing going for another two weeks as that should be enough time to lose another kilo (1 pound per week).  Fully doable if I now have the numbers right.

Sunday 9 October 2016

Day 13

Rocking double digits. Another Saturday done, although we worked in the garden for a few hours so splurged on calories with a pizza.

When I had originally started this run of days, today was my decision date whether to carry on as we have a small Sunday dinner.  I think I have a bit more toning up to do in the gym this week, I'd like to see where another week of healthy eating and exercise will take me.  So I said F it, I'm continuing on!

To make it easy for myself I volunteered to pick up OH's sister and boyfriend and to drop them off later.  I've found in the past that folks here are appreciating the lift and never give the driver a hard time about not drinking lest they lose their ride lol.

I may make my streak go 30 days as that seems to be the goal in blogland but I may not.  It may go longer.    My current thinking is to keep going until physically I am no longer seeing improvements.  My weight is down slightly and my overall look is better.  I've lost weight in particular in the stomach, face and waist.  My gym performance is up, stronger, better, more energetic.  Looking forward to hitting it hard this week and seeing more positive changes! 

Wednesday 5 October 2016

Day 9

Sleep, glorious sleep!  I've never been a good sleeper at the best of times.  I seem to have a better sense of hearing than most so noises will throw me off.  In the summer with the early UK sunrises light wakes me around 430 AM.  I get stressed about my job so struggle to fall asleep and then when I wake up it's what I continue to kick around further.  Then throw alcohol in the mix with 330 or 430 random wake ups and I am done. 

I know everyone talks about the lovely alcohol-free sleep.  I wasn't getting to it in the 'weekend only' drinking mode.  The past two nights have just been divine.  I've been getting a solid eight hours of sleep.  Eight!

I think it's the combination of no alcohol, intense sport and clean eating.  I need to tuck away this feeling for future reference on evenings when the going gets tough.

Weight is clocking in today at 57.6 kilos so down from the starting point of 58.8.


Tuesday 4 October 2016

Day 8

One week since I started this streak.  Tuesday is usually an easy night as I have gym classes in the evening.  Not the best Tuesday as it's the anniversary of my mother's passing though.

In the one week since I dropped the alcohol and improved the eating I'm already noticing the weight drop not only from the scale but from look/feel.  Could afford to go after some areas around the hips and thighs but pleased that the wine gut is magically shrinking.  Reading online, it seems that the thighs are the last place to lose weight.  I believe that one as the last time mine were fit was 20 years ago when I was a teetotal vegan.  Thigh weight loss supposedly happens at an 18% body fat, I'm currently at 30%.  As I balance my gym schedule I'm adding in more running time on the treadmill, let's see...

As I sit here I have a bottle of wine, fizzy (both unopened and here since before this started) and an opened bottle of vodka (from two weeks ago) in the fridge.  Perhaps backward logic but I find having alcohol in the house makes it easier to quit.  It's here but I am *choosing* not to have it.  As opposed to 'it's not here because I cannot control it and therefore I want it more and must go out and buy/consume it now.' 

As I live within a two minute walking distance from two express supermarkets, this is a necessary evil for me as last call is then 11 PM.  Never mind that the fast food place on the way is open until silly o'clock serving chips/fries.  Not necessarily a recommended solution for anyone else but I find it works for me. 


Monday 3 October 2016

Day 7

A few weeks back I had a business trip to the Continent followed by a week of volunteering in a neighboring country.  Here is the summary of those two weeks:

week 1, country 1 - Work silly hours, drink too much coffee in the office, eat the local cuisine in the evenings (carb heavy, cheese overload).  They like to eat seasonally, can anyone say, pumpkin risotto?

week 2, country 2 - Even crazier volunteer hours in a country that does not recognize vegetarians.  Food was provided, breakfast each day was 2 slices of bread with cheese.  Lunch and dinner always included potatoes.  The vegetarian main was something fried, like breaded soya.  One day there were apples for a snack, oh the excitement.  On the plus side, I had no alcohol for 5 days straight while I was on the clock for the volunteer gig, even though it was provided for free each night.

week 3 - Return to the UK and try to get back into a routine in the face of coming back to my awful job.  It was a bumpy landing that included a 'two for Tuesday' papa john's pizza night as I couldn't be bothered to cook for date night.  It also involved excessive wine and fizzy each evening.  As an added twist, I also started on vodka as I brought back a cheap bottle from country 2 where they specialize in it.

At the end of week 3 was my monthly stats at the gym.  It's not a gym requirement but I run them at the end of each month to keep track of progress over time.  As suspected, I was in the worst or second to worst rating for each of my numbers since I started tracking in Dec 2015.

**Fast forward**

I had one last Monday drinking (it still remains my Achilles heel of drinking nights due to the job) and went cold turkey on a Tuesday Sept 27th, no alcohol.

I started Wednesday on a strict diet, my personal one which seems to suit my body best historically, mainly:

  • Vegan, but with egg whites and fish.  I have 1-2 friend egg whites in the morning, pre-gym.
  • The fish is either tuna from a can or something fresh which I prepare as baked, not breaded, an actual fresh fish, nothing from a freezer or prepared by someone else.  Normally I sprinkle on some herbs and that's it.
  • No dairy except for an occasional yogurt as a snack.
  • No 'bready' carbs or 'no white carbs' as people like to say.  For me this means no rice, no bread.  I will add a light carb such as 2 ryvita crackers with a big salad for a meal or Japanese soya noodles in a stir fry.  I start each gym day with 50 grams of porridge (oatmeal) made with water.  
At the gym, my normal routine, one hour per day of a mix of cardio/high-intensity and weight training.  A new schedule was released last week at the gym so still figuring that one out, what to do on what day.



Results so far:

The 'warm up' activity of taking the weekdays off from alcohol in my prior weeks was a good thing.  I got through Tues-Thurs ok.  A few m&m's on Friday, while I don't eat candy normally I have seen in earlier weeks that taking away the wine sugar does have an impact.

In the past I've done Mon-Thurs nights or Tues-Fri with little issue.

Saturday was a massive crash and burn as I outlasted my normal routine.  Somehow it seems the body knows that it gets wine again at the weekend.  I soldiered on and OH made dinner.

I know many people say just to work on the alcohol and to eat whatever just to get past the days but the thing that has kept me going this week has been the weight loss, so it's been paying off to keep my diet in check along with the alcohol.

Tuesday 58.8 kilos.  During the prior week of decadence it was above 59.

I've been headed down since then and clocked in this morning at 57.8 kilos.  I don't expect it to go down each day, it can vary slightly but the point is that one week later I'm 1 kilo lighter.

My goal is to head in to the 56 kilo zone and then decide further.  I've noticed an improvement in my sporty performance this week so I'd like to see what another kilo does for me.  Tonight I brought back in a small serving of cheese pizza, I decided to have that as a small reward for lasting a week alcohol free.

In addition to the 56 criteria, at a minimum I plan to last until Sunday, when we have a dinner planned.  I don't necessarily plan to break the fast that day but I will make it through another Friday/Saturday to prove that I can do it.