The Issue

My friends, family and colleagues are all very nice people. None of them would ever say I am fat; solid maybe, but not fat.

I am fortunate in being tall (6 foot 4). This means that the weight disperses itself quite cleverly and I can sort of ‘get away with it’. Getting away with it however is not something I can do on the bathroom-scales or with the tape-measure; they are unfortunately less forgiving than friends or family.

The Cause

A summer-time diet is always the worst for me. Yes, there is salad and lots of fresh fruit; lean grilled meats on the barbecue and a lot of long, rambling walks in the sun. But there are also other more tempting things; namely trips to the pub to drink pints of beer, eat cheese-burgers and then have more beer. Our local pub is a pretty sort of place, which adds to its allure:

          

          

And yes; many a country walk takes place to the pub. It is 2.5 miles away, so the perfect distance for a stroll through the woods and over the field. But anyway, I digress…

Throw summer garden-parties into the mix, with champagne and other sugary delights, and Adam gets fatter. At the end of this summer, I climbed on the bathroom scales and was the heaviest I have ever been! 15 stone, 10 lbs. Add to this, my waist measurement was 45 inches (above 40 inches and you carry a greater risk of developing coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes – my partner is already type 1 diabetic; if I developed type 2 through poor lifestyle choices then that would verge on the ridiculous!). In short, something had to be done!

The Background

I would say I have always had this problem. I was raised on a traditional British diet of stodge! Bread, potatoes, pastry, cake, sandwiches, sugary puddings (syrup sponge and custard kind of thing). My two brothers have the metabolism of an alley cat! They can deal with any junk food that you care to throw at them (and please don’t let me stop you). In spite of this, they still stay stick thin. My father was the same. Me on the other hand; I took after my mother’s side of the family, and my system just never coped with it. For all of my adult life, I have carried the scars of that diet. What do I mean by scars? I have always been that uncomfortable bit overweight… podgy… Never drastic, but enough to make me sufficiently self-conscious to not go swimming or feel confident in summer clothes (I much prefer the hide-alls of big winter coats and scarves).

The Decision

I had gone low-carb in the past; but this was more of a maintenance thing – a quick crash diet to shift a few pounds and then straight back on the stodge. One cannot continue life getting progressively heavier with each passing year – something had to change!!!

The Solution

Having had success in the past with the Atkins diet, I decided to go back to this. Then I did some further reading and found there was more to low-carb than meets the eye. Enter LCHF and the ketogenic diet. That reading progressed to the crossover with diabetes. That was it; the decision was made, I needed no further encouragement! Ketones were the way forward!

The Target

A couple of years ago, my healthcare professional informed me that my ideal weight was 12 1/2 stone. This has always seemed a little optimistic a target for a 6 foot 4 man in his mid thirties (especially considering I have not been that weight since I was 15); but I am prepared to give it a go! I like a challenge.

The Timescale

So, from 15 stone 10 lbs down 12 stone 6 lbs. I started this diet on Sunday 28th September 2014. Loosing 2lb per week, should mean that I reach my target by 8th March 2015 (a 24 week plan).

‘Weigh Day’ is a Sunday. I intend to record and report my weight every week, with a few comments along the way. Waist measurement is also an indicator, but this will only be done once a month. Posts will be labelled ‘week 1, week 2’ &tc.

Wish me luck!

Thank you for reading,

Adam.