Mile - Stones

Well, here's the news from the 1-week weigh-in. Down 3.5 pounds, to 20 stone, 4 pounds, or 284 pounds for my American friends. So, a solid, if hardly Earth-shattering start. The idea was to lose the safe amount each week, but I can take a little kickstart as my body goes "What the Hell is going on here?", because there will be weeks, and they will be many, when absolutely nothing good happens later on down the line.

And I guess the point is that with another week that is perhaps just slightly better than this, or two weeks exactly like this, I'll be able to announce my first milestone has been achieved - getting under 20 stone for the first time in about a year.

Now I know this is a tricky one for the non-Brits, but I will probably always think in terms of stones (14 pound-increments), because there's a solidity both to the word and to the concept - in the UK, we tend to have to do the mental maths if someone says "280 pounds", and it doesn't have an immediate picture associated with it. But 20 stone? Unless the person's lucky and tall, you can be pretty much guaranteed that at 20 stone, you're talking to a fat fuck.

And the solidity of the concept works in reverse too - If you lose "a stone", to the British mindset, it seems somehow more final and positive than simply losing "14 pounds". I suppose it's the same logic that makes having any significant birthday feel more definitive than the one before - when you turn 30 or 40 or 50, it feels somehow more solid than turning 29 and twelve months...

So while I'll always give pound-equivalents, my brain is measuring this adventure in stones and half-stones, and therefore, with an obvious if rather delicious logic, mile-stones.

Just a quick recap for anyone who's joined us in the last week. I've started trying to lose a shedload of weight, and have made the following changes to try and make that happen:
(no sweet things, desserts or sugars - has been in place for the last year. As has no fizzy drinks).
This week:
Lower carb
More water
Walking, both in the morning and the evening.
More regimented eating - three meals a day.
Some degree of portion control, though not starvation rations.
Begun a home exercise regime, on a recumbent exercise bike.
Less fried food.
More healthy snacks, in an attempt to engage the metabolism.

All this has so far achieved a 3.5 pound weight loss.

I'm gonna be flagellating myself with celery sticks by the end of this, I can see...