Big Jim’s attempt to become Slim Jim

[wombatofludham]

18 hours ago, big jim said:

As well as that ride I ended up adding to it on the way in

 

i had to change trains at rugeley trent valley so instead of carrying the bike over the bridge I got on it and rode to rugeley town station, another 1.4 miles 

 

and then when I got to Walsall I got off there and rode the final bit to bescot the long way round, almost another 4 miles to the tally (that bit was taking my life into my own hands though, scary drivers round Walsall!) 

I can see now we've reopened the border between Wales and England I'm going to have to watch out for you on your bike on my trips back to Lloegr - my brother lives in Rugeley and the rest of the family live all over Walsall!

Beware of silver-grey Saab 9-5 estates...

[big jim]

I’m planning on coming down to Llwyngwril soon and going from there to Barmouth via penrhyn drive to the point and turn back through fairbourne then over to Morfa mawddach and the over Barmouth bridge then get the train back (or do it in reverse and brave the climb back up friog bank!)

[big jim]

Just a short one tonight, 5 times round the park, for some reason it didn’t record my location though

 

 

 

[Rugd1022]

If you feel like losing an extra pound or two Jim you could buy the Maser off me - it's sure to make you sweat!!

 

Bets of luck anyway 

[big jim]

I’m not a glutton for punishment!

 

as for the red mini, those sparco seats I got in January feel much comfier now I’m not as wide

[wombatofludham]

2 hours ago, big jim said:

I’m planning on coming down to Llwyngwril soon and going from there to Barmouth via penrhyn drive to the point and turn back through fairbourne then over to Morfa mawddach and the over Barmouth bridge then get the train back (or do it in reverse and brave the climb back up friog bank!)

Probably safer on the train, I hate driving up the Friog cliffs in the Saab, I'd be several stone lighter on a bike, not through the exertion but the liquid brown ejection caused by the sheer terror of having impatient drivers trying to cut you up on the narrow stretch.  There again the last bit into Barmouth from the Viaduct/path into town is equally buttock clenching.

 

 

[big jim]

That’s the other reason I’m thinking about coming back on the train 

 

Did the plans to build a new path from the bridge to the harbour ever come to anything? 

[boxbrownie]

14 hours ago, big jim said:

Just a short one tonight, 5 times round the park, for some reason it didn’t record my location though

 

 

 

That’s because after the third circuit the machine thought something had gone wrong.....after five it just gave up 

[boxbrownie]

14 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

If you feel like losing an extra pound or two Jim you could buy the Maser off me - it's sure to make you sweat!!

 

Bets of luck anyway 

And he’d be walking more often 

[wombatofludham]

17 hours ago, big jim said:

That’s the other reason I’m thinking about coming back on the train 

 

Did the plans to build a new path from the bridge to the harbour ever come to anything? 

 

Not yet, unfortunately.  I think it's still chuntering away in the background but with Covid and Gwynedd's inability to realise there is a whole population south of Porthmadog it's going forward with all the haste of a slug with arthritis.

 

[big jim]

Thought it had gone quiet!

 

anyway today I got a couple of miles in on a worksite, I was doing a roll by and brake test  on a 1000ft long ballast train at Wolverhampton so walked it a few times checking brakes and wheels etc then sent it to the work site and followed it down on foot, another 3 or so miles doing that, and on ballast

 

 

[Markwj]

Good going Jim it’s that thinking outside the box and looking out how you can incorporate exercise into your daily routine although luckily it’s the time of year and weather for the outdoor stuff.

 

Inspired by your journey am considering redoing weight watchers one niggle with it is though when you scan a product and weight watchers haven’t themselves scanned it but other members have and you can have varying points values for the same product!

[big jim]

you can enter the values yourself if you know the nutritional values off the packaging, I’ve found generally most points are pretty close or if something isn’t on there and I don’t know the values then I pick something comparable and use that instead 

 

 

[Markwj]

37 minutes ago, big jim said:

you can enter the values yourself if you know the nutritional values off the packaging, I’ve found generally most points are pretty close or if something isn’t on there and I don’t know the values then I pick something comparable and use that instead 

 

 

While I can’t remember which product particularly I have seen variations of up to 3 or 4 points which could be the difference between a nice treat or not!

[Sir TophamHatt]

Hey!

 

Just read your first post, so happy for you!

 

While I'm not quite at the size you are (don't mean to offend!) I'm probably still classed as obese

 

What sort of meals do you have now?

I am in trouble as I don't like salads at all.  I can have some veg but not a huge variety.

 

Did you compliment your diet changes with exercise on the bike?
I think this is where I have gone wrong as I barely get out and about, preferring to potter around the garden or play computer games.  Affording a bike may be tough at the moment but not completely out of reach.

What were you drinking before?  And what now?
I drink at least a pint of fizzy drink a day (remember folks, 500ml is about a pint!), which isn't good.  There have been some days where I have got to the end of the day and realised I didn't drink anything but fizzy drinks.  My thirst drive isn't very good and as I don't drink tea of coffee, I simply replace those with fizzed drinks, often not having my first until midday (no drinks in the morning).

 

Have you used an app or anything to help you?

I tried with a calorie counting one (MyFitnessPal?) but it didn't last long.

 

Mrs TH has been loosely following Slimming World by cutting down on bread and milk, plus switching to salads and such.  I have also been helping by cutting down on portion sizes and stopping buying chocolate and other such sweet treats.

 

Sorry for the Spanish questions and all that, but really happy to see people's progress and feedback on how it's affecting their life.

I'll go back to the rest of the thread now but wanted to get my thoughts and questions down before forgetting them.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Sir TophamHatt

[big jim]

meals: i tend to have a greggs egg bap for breakfast as its a low point meal and filling, dinner ill have a chicken wrap or something similar, same for tea or a gooked chicken meal of some sort (i dont do salads either), you can still have the likes of mcdonalds or kfc if you want to have a treat but i have a hamburger and small fries instead of a 1/4lb, large fries and 6 nuggets on the side!

 

bike: thats new last week, so glad i got one, certainly compliments the diet by getting my heart pumping and the calories burned

 

drinks: i can have coke zero, pepsi max etc on weight watchers and as a diabetic but switched to sugar free flavoured water but ive slowly started drifting back towards it, i need to stop as despite it being ’safe’ it makes me feel bloated now!

 

app: weight watchers app for points measuring, strava to log exercise and workouts on the iphone to record heart rate and exercise, 5k runner for couch to 5k

 

biggest thing is cutting back on bread, its carb filled so no good for diabetes but also something else that made me bloated, again ive slowly been drifting back onto it but only having a couple of slices of wholemeal a day as opposed to 3/4 of a large warburtons toastie a day but again something i need to keep a close eye on so i suddenly dont end up earing 1/2 loaf of it a day

 

i certainly feel better for it, sleeping better, breathing better, metter mindset too, in a way i kind of wish i didnt know id got below the safe diabetic threshold as its made me a bit lax in watching my points this week and ive had a bit of a blowout foodwise in the hotel, i dont think ill lose anything this week despite all the exercise ive done, tomorrow is day 1 of the chris evans run a marathon book which ties in nicely with the couch to 5k app so hopefully looking at and doing those and some serious biking before wednesday might see me maintain my current weight but i suspect it may go up by a Lb or two as i feel really bloated this weekend 

[Andrew1974]

Hi Jim,

 

My 13 year old son is type 1 diabetic, over the years we have used a number of different blood glucose monitors, which is essential for T1 but optional (depending on who you talk to) for T2.
 

We started with the Accucheck, which you can buy for about £30, but then you need finger pricker (about 2p per stab) and testing strips (about £30 per 50 tests).  As a T1 you can get this on prescription, but no idea if you can as a T2.

 

We then Moved onto the Libre flash glucose monitoring system, at the time you could not get this on the NHS (some people now can) and cost us around £100 per month but at the time seemed like a life saver, we could test bloods at any time without finger pricking, really helped to see what was happening to blood sugars after eating etc.

We now have the Dexcom, this costs £169 per month but is absolutely perfect for us but might be over the top for what you may need.

 

Why do I tell you this...when we were finger pricking I felt we were getting all the info we needed, we moved onto the libre and got more useful info and highlighted things we could not spot with the accucheck (peaks or lows that we were missing my only testing a few times a day) but the dexcom tells us even more, but at a price, and has helped us bring his HbA1c right down.

 

I’m not sure exactly what you may need (if anything) but can’t help thinking the more info you have the easier it is to see the impact of your choices.

 

Good luck with both your weight loss and diabetes control.

 

Andrew

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bodmin16]

11 hours ago, big jim said:

meals: i tend to have a greggs egg bap for breakfast as its a low point meal and filling, dinner ill have a chicken wrap or something similar, same for tea or a gooked chicken meal of some sort (i dont do salads either), you can still have the likes of mcdonalds or kfc if you want to have a treat but i have a hamburger and small fries instead of a 1/4lb, large fries and 6 nuggets on the side!

 

bike: thats new last week, so glad i got one, certainly compliments the diet by getting my heart pumping and the calories burned

 

drinks: i can have coke zero, pepsi max etc on weight watchers and as a diabetic but switched to sugar free flavoured water but ive slowly started drifting back towards it, i need to stop as despite it being ’safe’ it makes me feel bloated now!

 

app: weight watchers app for points measuring, strava to log exercise and workouts on the iphone to record heart rate and exercise, 5k runner for couch to 5k

 

biggest thing is cutting back on bread, its carb filled so no good for diabetes but also something else that made me bloated, again ive slowly been drifting back onto it but only having a couple of slices of wholemeal a day as opposed to 3/4 of a large warburtons toastie a day but again something i need to keep a close eye on so i suddenly dont end up earing 1/2 loaf of it a day

 

i certainly feel better for it, sleeping better, breathing better, metter mindset too, in a way i kind of wish i didnt know id got below the safe diabetic threshold as its made me a bit lax in watching my points this week and ive had a bit of a blowout foodwise in the hotel, i dont think ill lose anything this week despite all the exercise ive done, tomorrow is day 1 of the chris evans run a marathon book which ties in nicely with the couch to 5k app so hopefully looking at and doing those and some serious biking before wednesday might see me maintain my current weight but i suspect it may go up by a Lb or two as i feel really bloated this weekend 

There are times when I feel bloated and then surprised by actually found I have lost weight, it's amazing how your body, and how you feel, changes.  This isn't always the case and sometimes a lb or 2 goes back on, but as long as this doesn't continue I don't think let it get me down and I remind myself that I am closer my target weight than when I started.  With regard to bikes, I could never work out what the fuss was about until I upgraded from my old worn out upright, now I have 3 bikes, each one for something different.  Unfortunately bikes can be like model railways, you can always find an excuse for more.  I have to remind myself that 3 is quite enough and I shouldn't emulate one of my work colleagues who has 9!  Goodness only knows why.

Well done on the progress and keep up the good work.

[big jim]

As I say I’ll be surprised if I lose weight this week but but got a couple of days until

weigh in and I’ve worked out I can cycle to and from the station most days this week so that will help

 

just Been sat in east mids gateway waiting for the train to be loaded so I went for a walk along the bridle way that runs along the perimeter of the site, quite a sharp climb at the start and a couple of sets of steps up and down the embankment either side too

 

 

 

Nice view from the top

[Mike Bellamy]

7 hours ago, bodmin16 said:

Unfortunately bikes can be like model railways, you can always find an excuse for more.  I have to remind myself that 3 is quite enough and I shouldn't emulate one of my work colleagues who has 9!  Goodness only knows why.

 

Same with cameras - during father-in-law's house clearance we found 37 cameras - and some still had films in that hadn't been removed for processing - as you say 'Goodness only knows why' !!

.

 

 

[big jim]

A bit of unexpected exercise earlier, if you have seen my other thread you will see I had to brake test a train after removing the loco to assist another, got me another mile in (on ballast!) 

 

I hope people don’t mind me sharing these little snippets of exercise but I think it goes to show how much ‘unannounced exercise’ can be got in just the course of my work! 

[Jonboy]

Bikes are the classic example of:

 

“The perfect number to own is N+1=S-1, where N=The amount you currently own, and S = divorce”

[big jim]

Day 4 of couch to 5k today, improving with every run I hope!

 

 

 

No bike tonight as I don’t want to overdo it and I’m using it to get to the station and back tomorrow morning 

[New Haven Neil]

On the subject of bread, I eat Burgen, a soy and linseed loaf, which is 11g (IIRC) of carbs per slice, I only have 2 a day so it isn't too bad and helps with lunch - a sandwich!  Some breads have over twice this amount.

[leavesontheline]

An inspirational thread. Hats off to you! 

 

You will obviously have to re-do the Modelu 3D scan at some point in the near future! A 'before' and 'after' 3D model will have so much more impact than a 2D photo!

 

Perhaps the best thing to see in this thread is a bunch of blokes (apologies if there has been a female poster, I couldn't see one though!) talking about health and exercise and sharing tips and experiences! So, even more 'hats off' for facilitating that!

 

When I lost a bit of weight a few years ago I initially found it quite easy to shift the pounds by changing my diet slightly, moving my main meal to lunch time (giving me more of a chance to burn off the calories during the day) and sticking to something lighter in the evening, also by doing a little bit more exercise than I already was. Quite small changes seemed to have quite big effects, but the body quickly adapted I found, so it was all too easy to put the weight back on with equally small changes like increases in calorie intake e.g. through 'healthy' snacks, or alcohol and other 'hidden' calorie sources. Whatever changes you make, they have to be something you can sustain indefinitely, i.e. a lifestyle change, not just a short term 'diet'. You also still need to be able to enjoy the things you like, such as beer, wine, pizzas, chocolate, cake (sometimes all in the same evening - for me anyway!), but in moderation, otherwise it will just make you miserable. The mental battle is often more of a challenge than the physical one!

 

When you see the weight go down, the exercise and fitness tracking apps can become quite addictive! This needs to be done in moderation too though. I initially started doing alot more regular miles on the bike, so my calorie needs went up. It was all too easy to think that I could 'out-exercise' a bad diet though - you can't! I assumed that the odd packet of crisps here and there wouldn't really matter because of all the exercise I was doing - wrong! You still have to get the 'right' sort of calories in! Simplistically you just need to burn more calories than you put in your mouth but there is so much more to it than this to ensure you are getting all the nutrients your body needs.

 

Good luck with this! I will be watching with interest and cheering you on!