So, it's the day before the diet starts....

...And I'm full of trepidation and excitement.

All the food I will need for the week arrived today and to my surprise, it didn't cost any more than a normal shop would for the healthy stuff.  To be fair, I don't eat particularly badly on a regular week - I just eat too much!  Double servings and picking at stuff in the fridge - it all adds up.

As of tomorrow I'm on the NHS website's 12-week plan, eating 1400 calories per day.  Calorie counting is pretty much the thing I find most difficult - not because it's a difficult thing to do, it's just difficult to encourage myself to make the effort.  In a bid to make it as easy as possible I had a read of the the NHS Livewell page for their advice.  It turns out I really did know the basics but it reminded me I already had an account with My Fitness Pal (from the last time I tried to get rid of my fat ass...).  Tonight I'm going to input the recipes for the meals I'll be having this week to try and make it easier for me in the week.

So, the weekly progress sheet is printed, I'm weight in (12st 3lb) and I'm ready for action.  Main challenge: motivation.  I'll be all excited about it for the first week and then it won't be fun anymore - especially if I don't see results.  The boyfriend is already instructed to give me a stern talking to if I start slipping (I'm sure that will go well).

In other news, we went for a bike ride yesterday, with total distance covered at about 18-19 miles.  Stopped halfway for some lunch and decided to sit outside under the umbrellas as we didn't have a bike lock.  Lunch ordered and two minutes later the storm hit - I mean constant thunder and lightning, hail like marbles, wind blowing everything over.  Lunch arrived mid storm... and then the power went out.  The storm passed as abruptly as it arrived and it was at this unfortunate moment we realised that our helmets were hanging upside down from our bike handles.  So, with lunch done we donned out soggy and freezing helmets, got on our soggy and freezing saddles and cycled back in the soggy and freezing weather.  We had to find it funny (and certainly the other people inside where we were having lunch thought it was funny) but it took 20 minutes in a hot shower to warm up...  No matter how hard the exercise we will be doing indoors will be, at least we're not being hailed on with the threat of random electrocution...

A full analysis of my fat ass...

Well, it turns out I'm a bit of a fatty!  I've known it for a while, gone to the gym, tried (and failed) to diet  so I reckon the only way to force myself to say goodbye to my fat ass is to do it in public - after all, who really wants to publicly fail.

So, the stats - I'm about 5'5", weigh about 12st 2lb which puts my BMI at 28.2.  This is in the 'overweight' range and by the way, 30 would be obese!  That's pretty scary, because I always knew I was carrying a bit more fat than I should be and really in comparison to other people I'm not particularly big but I never thought I would be that close to obesity.  OVERWEIGHT!  Scary...

I've learnt that I'm now at a higher risk of heart problems, stroke and diabetes.  The NHS website advises that my maximum weight should be 10st 11lb - that's 1st 5lb less than am I am now.  To be right in the middle of my healthy weight range I would need to lose 2st 11lb, which would bring me down to 9st 5lb.  Even when I was a slim 16 year old I didn't weight less than 10st so my first target is to lose 2st, bring me down to 10st 2lb - well within the healthy range.

Additionally, my waist measurement is 37 inches and the NHS has the following information about the ideal measurements for health (not Topshop):

"You have a higher risk of health problems if your waist size is:

• more than 94cm (37 inches), if you're a man

• more than 80cm (31.5 inches), if you're a woman

Your risk of health problems is even higher if your waist size is:

• more than 102cm (40 inches), if you're a man 

• more than 88cm (34.5 inches), if you're a woman"

And the health problems are heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer.  The ideal waist size is 32 inches or less for a woman (less than 37 inches for a man).  When I calculate my waist to hip ratio (just to double check if I'm carrying too much weight around my middle - as if I haven't already worked this out!) it comes out at 0.925.  This shouldn't be more than 0.85 for a woman (and 1.0 for a man).  So, I have approximately 5 inches to lose from my waist.

So, I have 2st and 5 inches from my waist to lose to lower my risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and stroke.  TERRIFYING.

I plan to do this simply by diet and exercise.  The exercise has already started - as many of you know, last year I was trying the Insanity programme so I've picked that back up again.  Warm up week this week but in full swing next week, once my body is used to those punishing exercises.  I don't really find doing exercise a massive trauma, but the diet stuff is going to be a bit more tricky.  I hate calorie counting but I don't think I'll enjoy a stroke or heart disease either so I'm just going to have to suck it up and get some discipline.  I've downloaded the 12 week weight loss guide from the NHS website so I'll be trying to stick to it.

Time to eat less and do more.  It must be easier at 25 than it will be in the future!

If you want to do the same, use the NHS website.