Big Jim’s attempt to become Slim Jim

[sb67]

Fantastic Jim, you deserve massive credit and should be very proud of what you've achieved. Keep up the good work. 👍

[big jim]

23 hours ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

Just keep it up now, not overdoing it but making sure you you do enough to maintain your fitness level.

i think I overdid it earlier in the week, I’ve been enjoying the non motor rides but I’d covered almost 60 miles last week at what I thought was with relative ease, however I also did a further 35 or so miles testing my mums old electric bike and by Wednesday night I’d just lost the energy to ride home from basford hall,  it took me 18 minutes as opposed to the normal 12 so I’ve decided to have a bit of a rest from cycling until tomorrow 

 

it wasn’t until I got back on an electric bike I realised quite how much extra effort I’d been putting in without the assist and had probably just quietly over exerted myself, not aching at all but physically drained, I’ve laid off the bike for a couple of days but weather dependent tomorrow I may have a ride up the Peak District before work but it’s not looking promising, I should get plenty of other exercise in next week as I’m off to the caravan and I do a lot of walking while I’m there, might even try and get a couple of runs in too 

[TheSignalEngineer]

1 hour ago, big jim said:

think I overdid it earlier in the week, I’ve been enjoying the non motor rides but I’d covered almost 60 miles last week at what I thought was with relative ease, however I also did a further 35 or so miles testing my mums old electric bike and by Wednesday night I’d just lost the energy to ride home from basford hall,

When we go on trips to North Yorkshire we do some quite long rides with a lot of climbs. Usually it is two days on then one day to somewhere like Scarborough or a trip on the NYMR. I can't do the rides we used to 30 years ago like camping around the battlefields in France where we did 1000 miles in 20 days on touring bikes with front and back panniers. Longest day we did was 83 miles due to the intended site at 60 miles being somewhat naff. Fortunately the extra 23 miles was on flat, straight roads with no traffic and the reward was we only had 30 miles to cover next day.

[Pete the Elaner]

@big jimI've been seeing more of you on the cycling thread than on here lately. Perhaps a good question to ask now is how do you feel compared to when you took the decision to get fitter? I imagine you feel great?

 

I have not done a sportive for a while now (probably 2019 was my last one). I have found them an enjoyable challenge.

 

It looks like you are based somewhere around Cheshire, but if we can find somewhere we can both get to, would you like to do one together, perhaps somewhere in the Midlands would work?

I find it more rewarding to help somebody else achieve a goal rather than set my own PB, so don't be thinking I will clear off & leave you behind. (I am not sure that I could anyway).

[big jim]

I feel so much better in every way, I’m sleeping better, breathing better, walking better, it goes on….

 

I’ve levelled out around 17.5 stone having got down to 16.8 and seem pretty happy there, Would like to get below 17 again but I’ve found that happy place of feeling fit and being able to eat what I fancy (I’m moderation) without having to track everything in weight watchers 

 

the biggest thing I’ve noticed is recovery after exercise, I had to climb a huge set of steps uk the side of an embankment on Sunday and even though it was quite hard work (and my trainee who is a mad keen cyclist agreed) it didn’t take long to regain my posture

 

similarly on the bike, for those who don’t follow the cycling thread, I’ve ditched the electric bike as I don’t need it now and I’m covering 25, 30 and even 50 mile rides all ‘jim powered’ some have been hard given the underfoot conditions and weather etc but from a fitness point of view I’m not struggling to do them, when you compare that to 12 months ago when I didn’t have a bike at all it’s quite an achievement, to be honest if you’d have said 3 months ago when I got my first ‘proper’ bike in 20 years again rhat I’d be covering 50 miles on a racing bike I’d have not believed you as I only bought the hybrid to commute and do short leisure rides as per the electric bike but ended up with a couple of road bikes too! 
 

As I put in the cycling thread the other day my weight loss is equivalent to two of my electric bikes weight (45kg total) hard to imagine carrying 2 of them round permanently 24/7 but that’s pretty much what I was doing! 

Edited May 9, 2022 by big jim

[big jim]

Almost 2 years down the line and I thought I’d better update this thread!

 

things haven’t gone particularly well regards keeping the weight off I had my work medical last week as I’ve gone back up to just short of 22 stone again

 

quite simply I’ve been very lax with the healthier eating, my exercise has taken a dive bomb and I’ve not been taking my metformin, the weight gain has crept up in me really, much as I never noticed it coming off instantly I’ve not noticed it slowly going back on other than the closes I bought when I was at my lightest don’t fit now, my waist line went from 46 down to 38 and is now back up to 42 again, I’ve also been informed by my own doctor that my cholesterol is high which it’s never been before 

 

my diabetic levels this time round are lower than when I was first diagnosed in 2021, back then I was 76, I’m now 50 but I did get it down to 32 at my most healthy and fittest so hopefully I can get it back down there again 

 

I’ve found that although I’m not as tired as I was in 2021 I am sleeping a lot more again and having far more ‘afternoon naps’ 

 

so this is (another) wake up call for me, time to get back into the weight loss regime and get moving a bit more, I found it hard to get motivated last year when it came down to the cycling which is a shame as I really enjoyed it the previous year, as an idea I covered 2500 miles in 2022 and only 350 miles last year, this years mileage is currently 0! 
 

im going to rejoin weight watchers as I thought I didn’t need it but I obviously do as the weight started to go on again once I finished counting the points! 
 

now call me brave, or call me stupid but this years GBRf charity partner is great ormond street hospital and I’ve signed up for the london to Brighton cycle challenge in September, a 55 mile ride raising money for the hospital

 

https://www.gosh.org/get-involved/fundraising-events/london-brighton-cycle/

 

A friend joined GBRf last week as a trainee driver and she’s into cycling and has also signed up, (it was her who has persuaded me to sign up too) as she lives down the road we’re going to see if we can get some training in locally, in know I can manage 50 miles but certainly not in the condition im in now, I did the Mersey tunnel ride at about 21 stone with admittedly not enough training so hopefully by September I can get my fitness levels back up and do the brighton run with ease(ish) 

 

I also found that posting on here was a big boost for me as well as getting helpful advice so hopefully when I start posing again I can get some motivation! 

[eastwestdivide]

Here's a "Slim Jim" as motivation - one of the narrow 33/2s on their regular Mountfield-Northfleet APCM gypsum working. 15 March 1984, 33204 nearing journey's end.

Good luck!

Edited February 8 by eastwestdivide
typo

[Nick C]

Good luck Jim! Hopefully having both a target and and exercise partner will help you to get motivated.

 

I've just started a new exercise regime too, for the opposite reason (I need to gain muscle mass/strength and stamina - so mostly resistance work rather than cardio)

[Pete the Elaner]

A slimming group is good. It is meeting people wanting to achieve something similar which helps.

 

2500 miles cycling in a year is good. I think I managed about 1900 last year & I try to go out every weekend when weather & exhibitions let me.

 

There are plenty of sportives available, although not as many as around 5-10 years ago. 50-70 milers are a challenge without being too painful if you are riding fairly regularly.

[big jim]

14 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

A slimming group is good. It is meeting people wanting to achieve something similar which helps.

 

2500 miles cycling in a year is good. I think I managed about 1900 last year & I try to go out every weekend when weather & exhibitions let me.

 

There are plenty of sportives available, although not as many as around 5-10 years ago. 50-70 milers are a challenge without being too painful if you are riding fairly regularly.

the weight waters app is good too, it has a forum/social media bit where you can post pics and get encouragement etc, I don’t want to meet up with people in real life! 
 

2021 I managed a few 50 and a 75 mile ride without issue, my average ride distance I got up to on my evening rides was about 20-25 miles, I want to get back to that level again, I’m going to restart zwift too and get my road bike on the rollers to up the miles of an evening 

 

I’m moving depots next week to crewe so hopefully I can get back into cycling rhe 2.5 mile to the station again, I might have to go back to the electric bike for a bit though 

[jcredfer]

Best wishes Jim, with your previous achievements, success is clearly there for you.  The weather and a few other interferences have  also drawn my cycling to a similar nothing for months.  I want to thank you, as your posts have also made me realise that there is only one person that can get my bike out, with me peddling it and getting the benefits that brings.  Inspiration sometimes comes when you least expect it, thanks again.

 

Julian

 

[rob D2]

It’s tough but never give up !

I went from 19st to 10 and a half at my smallest ( developed a bit of an issue the other way ). 

Have you used a calorie counter on a phone ? That got me from 14 to 11.

 

I find intermittent fasting good too. Eat for 8 hrs , fast for 16 …not every day though 

[dave75]

Go Jim , you can do this, you've done it before. 

I'm sure the lighter nights and warmer weather will help as well.

[Mike Bellamy]

11 hours ago, rob D2 said:

I find intermittent fasting good too. Eat for 8 hrs , fast for 16 …not every day though 

 

Without starting a political debate - carry on like that Rob and you could end up as Prime Minister - his fasting day is said to be on Mondays.

.

[sjp23480]

I had a similar experience - dropping from around 18 to 14st, but friends and relatives saidI looked ill! 

 

So eased off and now back up to about 16st and struggling with wardrobe choices - things don't fit, or if they do, they're a bit of a pinch.

 

My wife and I do Slimming World - she goes to the meetings (I don't), which helps a bit but there are so many temptations thrown in my way.
 

I work from home and the combination of the winter weather and the Christmas holidays has wrecked our regime, but we are slowly returning to normal, until our 22yr old daughter "boomeranged" after a trip to  Australia and relentlessly complains there is no food in the house! 

 

I try to approach my weight as a lifestyle issue - much as you did when you started your journey.   We have a weekly meal plan, have just got a new dog so we walk twice a day, we try to "eat out" as little as possible and I am trying to do more modelling work to keep from snacking!

 

As I get older and my metabolism slows, I find it harder to lose the weight and need fewer calories.

 

Old habits die hard, but as you know, with determination it can be done.

 

Good luck,

Steve