I recently spent 6 weeks away in France in my campervan. It was a of bit work mixed in with a surfing holiday, although the waves didn't exactly show up!
During the first half of the trip I was very good at eating well and being active, with a mix of surfing, running and some exercise. This was just with a kettlebell and some body weight stuff. I wasn’t tracking my food at all but when your living on grilled or BBQ'd meat and veg, you’re not going to go too far wrong.
The photo below was taken during the first 3 weeks of healthier living while away.
A game of two halves!
Then the second half of the trip started! I met up with friends for the next 3 weeks and basically ate and drank to excess. It was brilliant!
Wine tasting and wine buying at Chateaus, very good restaurants and some overindulgent BBQ’s. On the drive home I stopped off at different family and friends, drank half of the wine I bought, while continuing to eat ridiculous amounts.
I knew I was piling on the lbs and starting to feel a bit shitty, but life if too short to worry about that when you are on holiday! We all go through times in the year when we eat and drink too much. A holiday, a string of weddings, or like me just living in Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival. That’s basically a month of booze and street food temptation!
Rather than getting all worked up about it, just get involved, have fun and sort yourself out when you get past it. You know when you’re ready to reign it in.
My body and mind just says “Oi, dick head, sort your shit out!”, and that’s me back on the good living having had a ball and made some guilt free memories.
This photo below was taken once I was back, and after all the wine and food! Excuse the sweat, I'd just been on a run!
How much did I put on?
To give you an idea, I was 87 kg when I left the UK. I was lost over a centimetre from my waist during the first 3 healthy weeks (I only had a tape, no scales), so god only knows exactly what I put in the second 3 weeks. But I was 90 kg when I came back!
Sorting my shit out!
For the last two weeks I have been sorting myself out while not actually giving up on my social life. In fact, I’ve had quite a lot to contend with! This has come in the way of a “baby shower” meal and drinks, 40th birthday parties (not mine, not yet!) and I have weddings coming up. Not to mention the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the next few weeks.
So far, I have lost 3.5kg (7.7lbs) over half a stone, while still having a drink and eating good food. I’ve lost differing amounts of size around various waist and hip measurements, the biggest being 4.5cm from the high waste (above my belly button). Now this weight loss will slow because I recommend you only drop 1-2 lbs per week, so I will adjust things to try and slow it down. Losing weight too quickly just contributes to yo-yo-ing which is no good.
How am I doing it?
Well before I carry on below, I'll tell you that I'm basically following my own Nutrition and Fat Loss course. It's an 8 week programme that is aimed at people that don't necessarily want to go to the gym, but are ready to do something about their lifestyle.
It’s not ready yet, but if you’re interested you can sign up below for more information when its available. To say thank you for showing early interest, you’ll get a 50% discount too.
But please carry on reading below and you'll see my starting weight and measurements, and my thoughts on the other methods people try.
Sign up below to be the first in line when the programme when it is ready to launch, and get 50% off.
A SIMPLE CALORIE DEFICIT!!!
No tricks, no magic shortcuts, just eating correctly, moving more and knowing what my targets and goals are.
Despite all these different diets spouted about these days, there is ONLY ONE method that works and is backed by science. That is the calorie deficit.
All these fad diets that make wild claims have the same thing in common when seeking fat-loss, they put you in a calorie deficit!
Many of them just hide this fact so you don’t know how it works, to keep you going back to them and spending money on useless products!
I’m going to rant about this in another post. But for now I'm just going to give you an insight in to how I’m losing my own body fat, and getting in shape again after my holiday.
I am well aware that many people will have tried to lose body fat with a calorie deficit, and not got the results they may have wanted. But with the right approach it is perfectly achievable.
Its not just counting calories, we need to be smarter than that to overcome barriers. I see the same mistakes made over and over again, so with a little guidance and support from others, you can get the same results as I am now.
It's also not about counting calories for ever, screw that! But tracking your intake while you get to your goal is key. Once you are there and know what you need to be doing, you can stop tracking and just maintain. Then if you ever need to whip yourself into shape again, you will have the tools to do so without my help!
This is the opposite to groups like Slimming World, who make up their own methods and systems like Syns. These are based on calorie counting!
But they hide it the fact within their own points system so you need to keep going back and lining their pockets!
My Weight and Measurements
Here are my starting measurements and targets.
I measure the following things:
- High waist (between belly button and ribs) – 95.5 cm
- Middle waist (at my belly button) – 95.5 cm
- Low waist (below my belly button but above the top of my hips) – 96.5 cm
- I also measure around my hips/buttocks – 97 cm
- Weight - 90 kg
I’m two weeks in to this, so look out for the next blog post in the next few days.
Follow My Progress
I’ll put together a few blog posts showing what I eat, my calorie intake if and when I tracked them. You will also see the exercise or activity I do and how I fit more movement into my normal day to burn more calories. They also will include whether I went out for meals or drinks, and what I did to avoid ruining my progress. So you can see I haven't given up on my social life.
As this is an ongoing thing until I meet my targets, I’ll even be honest and show you if I don’t lose or even gain weight!
The Balance
Sometimes you do need to say no and sort your shit out, but life is too short to worry about that all the time. It’s all about BALANCE!
You need to find that balance of sorting yourself out when you need to, finding the ideal place you want to be at, and getting there while still having a fun along the way.
Fat loss and fitness don’t move in a straight line on a graph. It’s like one of those old bumpy slides at the fairgrounds. The ones where you get inside a manky old straw sack that scratches your arse and legs all the way down!
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. Feel free to comment below,get your name on the discount list for when the 8 week programme goes live, and keep an eye out for the next post in this My Post Holiday Fat Loss series.
Cheers my dears, Kelvin.
Sign up below to be the first in line when the programme when it is ready to launch, and get 50% off.