New Year, New Challenge

Happy New Year.

Now that’s out of the way (and the less said about the holiday season the better) let’s get on with things.

I am actually feeling pretty determined right now. This time last year I probably felt marginally worse mentally than I do now, but the difference in 2022 is going to be how I move forward. In 2021, I was unable to emerge from severe depression for 9 months, and in that time, although it wasn’t all bad, I really ran my body into the ground.

While I can’t make any promises about my mental health,(especially after being dumped by my therapist just 4 days before Christmas, and coming off meds a couple of weeks before that after my GP gave me an ultimatum), I can try to do something about my physical health. I have the tools and knowledge to do that, and I do have some motivation to work with.

Leading up to Christmas, I gave myself a gentle target of dipping below 90kg in body mass. I was on track until…well, Christmas started early. I blame my in-laws, who weren’t seeing us on actual Christmas, and therefore we planned with us to have a ‘fake Christmas’ a couple of weeks early. The rest is history and my waistline is the record book.

So for about 3 weeks i’ve been eating and drinking. So much so that even I am feeling the strong urge to eat some vegetables. I also had a really bad bout of vertigo yesterday and this seems to happen when i’ve really not been looking after myself. Poor sleep, terrible diet, drinking most of the day…it does take its toll. And at the not-so-tender age of 37 I guess it doesn’t take so long to crash, and it takes a lot longer to get back to fitness!

Other that wanting to stop feeling sluggish, having chronic reflux, feeling and looking disgusting, I also want to be in decent shape for the cricket season in April/May (whenever the rains allow). Last year I was in terrible condition and played poorly, which really fed into self-criticism and self-destructive feelings. I just felt I had let myself down in the most basic way, so I want to at least have the foundation for being fit enough to play – even if the reality of lacking skills presents itself in due course!

If you followed my blog last autumn, or have browsed the ‘Weight loss challenge’ menu, you will be aware that I have tried and failed with a challenge before. I did learn some lessons, as it happens, so i’m factoring them into my plans for the next 3-4 months.

Weighing in

• Mass: 96.6kg
• Body fat: 33.9%
• Visceral fat: 13
• Resting heart rate: 78bpm
• Respiration rate (awake): 14brpm
• Active minutes (last 7 days): 0
• Waist: 104cm
• Belly: 115cm
• Chest: 111cm

I guess it could have been worse….! I’m glad I did at least do some good work leading up to (early) Christmas, otherwise things might have been pretty dire. Obviously i’m not in great condition, and feel pretty rough in general. I haven’t exercised for 3 weeks. My resting heart rate is crazy, probably because i’ve been eating constantly (thus my body has been digesting food all day), taking lots of caffeine and drinking alcohol.

The plan

Here we go again…

My plan is to focus on healthy behaviours and less on a weight loss target. I’m going back to intermittent fasting, eating only between midday and 6pm every day, cutting back on caffeine, cutting out alcohol, and aiming for a balanced diet. Alongside this, i’ll be walking regularly, and I plan to get back on the Couch to 5k challenge.

If I was pushed to say what my goal is, I ultimately want to feel fit by the start of the cricket season in late April. I think if my weight is down to around 85kg by then, everything else is likely to fall into place – although I know it’s not that simple!

My first target is to adhere to the behaviours i’ve set out above for the rest of January. So, here goes!

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