Progress Report!

So,

it has been two weeks.  I've been following as best I can, so it's time for an update and some clarifications.  My body measurements are:

Body fat:

• 17% (down from 19.3)

Weight:

• 79kg/12st6lbs/174lbs (down from 83kg/13st1lb/183lbs)

Waist: 

• 93cms/36 and a bit inches (down from 98cms/38 inches)

Some clarifications:

I said no calories from drink, yet I have been having cream in some coffee and tea, and I have had the occasional glass of red.  I'm trying not to get any other calories from drink, but tea and coffee is a step too far for me.  I just wouldn't be able to manage!  I don't feel like I need the caffeine high, I don't ever feel any effects from caffeine when I have it or when I have extended periods without.  It's just that I like the drinks.  They are also a very social thing, and when I'm meeting people and clients I think as a trainer sitting there with a cup of green tea is a bit of a social disconnect and gives people the impression of being a bit OTT.  Don't get me wrong it's the better thing to have and I do actually like it.  Half of my hot drink intake is very virtuous indeed, I've just chosen to stick with some tea and coffee intake.  I have the cream with them instead of milk as the sugar content is lower and therefore any potential insulin response is lower too, also it tastes nicer in my opinion.  Secondly, red wine.  I'm actually following Tim Ferris advice from the 4 Hour Body fairly blindly here.  He has done a lot of self experimentation and found the red wine didn't detriment his diet.  I'm not going mad with it, but if I find myself in a social situation I'm now choosing that over beers, spirits and white wine.

Final point:

All of this has been done with no exercise.  This has been on purpose to see what would happen and how I would feel.  I often hear the saying "it's 80% diet" being bandied about when it comes to weight loss, and I have to say I probably agree.  Doesn't matter how active you are if you're not controlling your blood sugar and your insulin activity.  That being said, being active is fun and it stops a raft of other problems, so I'm not diminishing its importance.

I am about to restart exercise and will be keeping an exercise journal that will mirror this nutrition blog.  It can be found at garethunderhill.blogspot.co.uk.  I hope to see you over there!

My starting place

As mentioned, I'll be updating my body measurements so that you (and I) can see how effective my behaviour change has been.  If you are thinking of doing this yourself, I recommend at the very least taking photos and circumferences.  If you can, take a measure of body fat percentage as well.  You can obviously save all this and track it yourself, you can do a blog like this, or bodybuilding.com has a fantastic tracking service called BodySpace.  Don't be put off by the name of the website, there are plenty of people on the site just looking for body transformation, be that increasing muscle or far more commonly, just losing weight.  It is a fantastic and large community and allows you to post photos, body stats, log goals and workouts and host a personal blog.  You can either click this link to be taken to the site or view my profile on it.


I am 32 years old and 5ft 10in.  I am averagely active, but that has just started going up again.


Here's my starting scores:

• Body Fat %: 19.3
• Weight: 83kg or 13st 1lb or 183lbs
• Waist: 96cm or 38"
• Chest: 103cm or 40.5"
• Upper Arms: 33cm or 13"
• Thighs: 62cm or 24"

My goals are:

• Body Fat %: 10
• Waist: 32"