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.