For four decades I never weighed myself. If I had to be weighed by a medical professional, I always asked them not to tell me my weight. I didn't want to know. We have some bathroom scales but I had never stood upon them until eight days ago.
I had been contacted by The National Health Service in relation to a lung screening programme. Like all others in my age group who were agreeable, I was to be asked a series of questions over the telephone to determine whether or not I should move forward to the next stage - a full-blown MRI scan.
However, in order to proceed with the questions there were apparently two vital pieces of information they needed - my height and weight. I was trapped. Just before the scheduled call I ascended our stairs and stood on the scales. Six feet below I could see the number "19". Nineteen stones. Far more of me than there used to be.
There and then I decided to shed some weight and have already started what I call "The Yorkshire Pudding Diet". This is a diet that I have dreamt up myself without reference to any dietitians or so-called experts in the field. It does not involve any Yorkshire puddings. Because it is my own invention, I am sure I am more committed to it than I would otherwise be.
Essentially, the diet is this:-
No snacks apart from bits of fruit
Breakfast - fruit. Mostly homemade fruit salad with whatever we have in.
Lunch - microwaved fresh vegetables with predominantly tenderstem broccoli, sliced carrot and leek. Sometimes eaten with a small tin of sardines or mackerel in a tomato sauce.
Dinner (Yorkshire: Tea) Just the same as always. Tonight, for example, it will be steak pie from the butcher shop at Bents Green with homemade chips (American: fries), garden peas and gravy - followed by apple and bramble crumble and custard
For seven days, I have stuck to this diet and I swear that I have not craved extra food or snacks. Hopefully, gradually, this regime will see my weight falling. I am leaving it a while before I next get back on those righteous scales. At first, my goal is get down to eighteen stones and then we will see where we go from there.... seventeen, sixteen, fifteen - rather like the countdown for a rocket launch... or a skeleton launch.
This is the first diet I have ever been on my life. I know that if I can become less big it will enhance my chances of reaching eighty and seeing my grandchildren reach adolescence. That's big motivation I think.
By the way, my answers to the lung screening caller mean that I am not being put forward for the MRI scan.
If I could have had a routing chest X-Ray, never mind an MRI, I might not be in my current predicament, but I might not have got one during the Covid crisis.
ReplyDeleteHindsight is a wonderful thing.
DeleteI was always a skinny kid and a skinny woman, until I hit menopause and then I piled on the weight. I'm not fat but would prefer to weight less and it would also help to hold of my diabetes. I read somewhere that a weight loss of 7% of your body weight would help prevent diabetes. Unfortunately, I love sweets and hate being denied, so I have increased my exercise and tried not to eat sweets in the evening.
ReplyDeleteGood lucky on your weight loss journey. 19 stone isn't so bad. You're what, seven feet?
Eight feet actually Pixie.
DeleteOther than the sardines it all sounds dee-lish. Wee eat fresh fruit every morning and I love it.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the mackerel Bob. With your breakfasts, no wonder Carlos is a fruity guy.
DeleteI cannot even believe that you weigh that much, brother. It is a damn good thing you walk all those miles in the countryside!! I, too, have gained weight in the last year. And, I am trying to lose about 15 pounds. But I am having trouble giving up my 2 glasses of wine while I am cooking dinner. I thought the snacks would be hard to forgo, but not so much. I am also trying to eat only between noon and six in the evening. This is my second week so we shall see. The meds that I must take for a couple of things gone wrong at my age can't be helping either! Okay!! Let's you and I blame the fu***in' meds then, shall we???
ReplyDeleteYes. It wasn't me officer!
DeleteGood luck on this regime. It's well worth losing weight. I know where the bathroom scales are I think! I haven't used them for a very long time but the doctor does way me.
ReplyDeletePhotos of you suggest that you are lean and trim - like an athlete.
DeleteI think your recent BP/heart diagnosis is probably related to your weight. It sounds like you may have been in denial about a lot of things. I think it is sensible to do something about it while you still have the chance. I'm surprised Shirley as a nurse did not pick up on it.
ReplyDeleteYes. I was certainly in denial ADDY but living quite happily in spite of that. I never took any pills.
DeleteStones mean nothing to me. Maybe I should ask to be told my weight in stones!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of The Rolling Stones?
DeleteThose sound like healthy, excellent meals. You're being sensible about variety and taste, unlike many eating plans--which are too restrictive and deny anything fun. Notice I'm not calling this a diet because unless it's a more permanent eating change, it won't last. Proud of you, YP!
ReplyDeleteThank you Margaret for applying your usual good grace and understanding.
DeleteI have counted calories and counted macros and struggled to keep weight off. More recently, inspired by a video where it said to stop thinking what you can't eat and think what you can, I set a goal to eat at least 4 pieces of fruit a day. I've also reduced the size of my lunch. It's pretty much the same as your diet.
ReplyDeleteI've dropped a size and plan to drop couple more.
Your blood pressure and sugars will improve out of sight. Go you@
Thanks for your encouragement Kylie.
DeleteSome yoghurt with breakfast would round it up well, add some calcium
ReplyDeleteThanks. I will consider that addition J.
DeleteI'm surprised that you are able to do as much walking as you do, carrying that much weight. If I had an extra 7 stone to carry, I think that my knees and hips would have long since given up the ghost!
ReplyDeleteYou might be a weedy little fellow Will but I am a big, strong bloke with size eleven feet and hands like shovels.
DeleteI think that is a good approach, to just work on the next number and not worry about the total you might prefer to lose. Gradual loss is more likely to be sustainable. If you do find you are getting hungry, more protein - plant protein is healthiest - will help. People trying to lose weight are told to have some with every meal and snack. My downfall is sugar. I can do well all day but when I relax in the evening I crave chocolate so much. However, I crave living longer more than I crave chocolate now, most of the time anyway. Good luck to you, and good health :)
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your kind encouragement and understanding Jenny.
Delete19 stone?? You're taller than me so that accounts for some of the weight I'd say, but that's still quite a hefty weight to be carrying around. I'm only five feet tall and currently 11 stone, coming down from 13 and a bit, with the goal of 9 stone, or maybe 9 and a half. Your self-imposed diet sounds good, but maybe don't have pie and chips too often? The chips are fine but pies have pastry and that bit of deliciousness is mostly fat and not good for you. Just eat the filling and leave the pastry for the birds in your garden.
ReplyDeleteI plan to have one "normal" meal a day Elsie. A lot of it is to do with one's psychology. It would be miserable for me to skimp on the main meal of the day.
DeleteFair enough.
DeleteI don't know what your day-to-day breakfast or snacks looked like before you started on the Yorkshire Pudding diet, but I like your lunch (apart from the sardines or mackerel). Some minor adjustments can also go a long way; for instance, if you have been using full fat milk and sugar in your tea/coffee, you could switch to skimmed milk and less sugar.
ReplyDeleteGood to know it was not deemed necessary for you to have an MRI scan.
I just want to see how the cancellation of snacks and any carbohydrates during the day will affect my weight.
DeleteI suppose it is a relief to know that an MRI is not yet warranted.
ReplyDeleteYes. That was a good thing. I am low risk for lung cancer.
DeleteI remember I was 9 stone up to the age of about 30, but I have forgotten stones now.
ReplyDeleteNine stones? You were literally half the man I am!
DeleteI think exercise and living on my nerves (worrier) keeps my weight down to 14 stone.
ReplyDeleteFourteen stones? You are like a whippet Dave!
DeleteGood luck with your dieting but having achieved weight loss don't throw it all a.way
ReplyDeleteI realise that that is what some people do.
DeleteWell, it is quite a lot YP so a good idea to lose some of it, which will no doubt help the blood pressure. The main thing is not to feel hungry so filling up with all that veg is good. Not so sure about pastry and chips though. Mashed potato would be healthier perhaps?
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was here with Stewart and the little girls so it was our special Thursday meal - not typical of other midweek meals.
DeleteWas it specifically your weight that disqualified you from the scan, or something else? (If you feel like telling us!)
ReplyDeleteI still have trouble thinking in stone, just as I have trouble thinking in celsius temperatures. My brain is still too American for that! But regardless, it never hurts to shed some extra pounds, and your diet seems sensible -- enjoying some pleasurable food while focusing more on vegetables and other healthy fare.
Not "disqualified" but simply omitted because my answers to all the other questions proved that I am "low risk" re. lung cancer. For example, I haven't smoked a cigarette in 36 years.
Deletei only weight myself twice a year...... start of feb and end of feb..... i always do vegan/dry feb so it's interesting to see what sobriety and lack of cheese do..... generally it's a 7lb weight loss over the course of the month..... i don't think i lost more than a couple of pounds this feb..... the probelm being that vegan "snacks" are becoming more and more widely available - if i could cut out the bad snacks i'd be a lot better off
ReplyDeleteEat a rice biscuit instead Arctic!
DeleteLike Jennifer, stones mean nothing to me either, so I looked it up. I think as we age, it becomes harder and harder to keep the weight that we had when we were younger. I try and weigh myself at least once a week. I have been trying to lose a few pounds but it has been hard. Snacking is my downfall. Good luck to you.
ReplyDeleteI know that in America you think in pounds for human weight but we never have.
DeleteSorry YP, but you'll have to forego those chips, the pastry on the pie (no thickening in the gravy) and crumble - and the custard, if you want to see an improvement in your weight loss. You should also limit the amount of red meat you eat too, that will help lower your blood pressure.Like Addy, I'm surprised that Shirley hasn't picked up on your weight.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, those walks are the best thing you can do - and we'd miss those wonderful photos if you stopped!
Thanks for your advice Doctor Carol!
DeleteI have counted macros and calories in an effort to lose weight but not been able to achieve much or maintain it.
ReplyDeleteThen I saw a video where the recommendation was to focus on what you can have instead of what you can't.
I've implemented pretty much the exact same plan as you except I don't have breakfast, I start eating at about 11am and aim for 4 pieces of fruit in a day
I have sardines or cabbage and beans for lunch. I've dropped a size with more to go.
Keep us informed, we'll be cheering you on.
Your BP and sugars will thank you
I appreciate your thoughtful encouragement Kylie.
DeleteSorry I posted twice. I thought my phone glitched so I came back and rewrote it without checking!
DeleteWell done so far on finding a diet that does not make you crave extra snacks of other kind. 13-10 years ago I managed to lose quite a bit of weight basically changing to food with low glycemic index and more fibre (i.e. basically less sugar, more vegetables, and wholemeal products rather than white bread etc). I too set my goals "one step at a time". I've gained back a few kilos over the ten years since my lowest weight but am still far from where I was at worst.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your reflections Monica. Thank you.
DeleteI do not wish to discuss this subject. I could write books on it but it's all been said before. Having never been on a "diet" you have a good prospect for success.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I won't ask why you prefer to steer clear of this topic Mary.
DeleteThink of your body as a giant savings account. To make the balance go down, you can put less in, take more out, or do both. Being mindful of intake and getting out for an extra walk will lower the stored balance.
ReplyDeleteWise words David. Thanks.
DeleteSounds like a good plan and I hope it works for you. It's good that you like to walk as that should help a lot.
ReplyDeleteYes - as long as my knees and heels keep doing their jobs.
DeleteIf your lung screening is the same as mine ... I did smoke some cigarettes when I was young, but didn't smoke enough to qualify. So not for me, either. As for weight, I'm 14 stone, should be 13. It's not my fault; it's the pie's fault.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom. Pies don't care about us.
DeleteI’m down to 19 stone
ReplyDeleteJust 5 more to go
lol
The world is more interesting with people like us in it
So keep up the good work
Speak for yourself John. I am a boring old fart.
DeleteI think I might try your diet.
ReplyDelete